


This Will Be The Day

by RebelGirlburnout



Category: RWBY, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Adam is awful, Ashido Mina is a Good Friend, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bisexual Disaster Jirou Kyouka, Bisexual Disaster Kaminari Denki, Blake Belladonna Needs a Hug, Dad Might, Dadzawa, F/F, F/M, Gen, Jacques Schnee's Bad Parenting, Jirou Kyouka is Bad at Feelings, Jirou Kyouka is a Blushing Mess, Jirou Kyouka is a Good Friend, Kaminari Denki Being An Idiot, Kaminari Denki Has ADHD, Kaminari Denki is a Dork, Lesbian Disaster Yang Xiao Long, M/M, Mineta Minoru Being an Asshole, Multi, Nora Valkyrie Gets High Anxiety, Protective Bakugou Katsuki, Protective Jirou Kyouka, Protective Todoroki Shouto, Protective Yaoyorozu Momo, Qrow is a superhero named Omen, Raven Branwen's Bad Parenting, Ren Makes People Get High, Ruby Rose Needs a Hug, Ruby is class 1-A's baby sister, Salem & AfO are scarier than canon, Summer Rose was an amazing hero and friend of All Might, Sun Wukong has ADHD, Taiyang Xiao Long's Bad Parenting, Taiyang does not like All Might, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor's Bad Parenting, Todoroki Shouto is Bad at Feelings, U.A. Dorms (My Hero Academia), Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug, Yang Xiao Long Needs a Hug, Yang is Smart, Yang loses her arm, Yang plays the Guitar, alternative universe, their will be angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 82,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23801224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelGirlburnout/pseuds/RebelGirlburnout
Summary: Yang Xiao Long never imagined herself to be a hero, but her little sister being the special girl she is, somehow ended up making Yang take the Entrance Exam for the #1 Ranked Hero Academy, U.A High School. Now she had a lot to learn and with her friends beside her, maybe it won't be that bad.orA bunch of chapters from different POVs during certain events within the BNHA timeline, in this crossover universe where Grimm and Nomu both exist and The League of Villains work's with Salem and All for One.
Relationships: 1-A girls, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Blake Belladonna & Jirou Kyouka, Blake Belladonna & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos, Kaminari Denki & Nora Valkyrie, Kaminari Denki/Nora Valkyrie, Kaminari Denki/Nora Valkyrie/Lie Ren, Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos & Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose & Class 1-A, Weiss Schnee & Yaoyorozu Momo, Yang Xiao Long & Class 1-A, Yang Xiao Long & Jirou Kyouka, Yang Xiao Long & Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long & Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long/Jirou Kyouka, Yaoyorozu Momo & Pyrrha Nikos, and Tododeku, hints of MomoWeiss, so much relationships
Comments: 60
Kudos: 84





	1. Enter the Sunny Little Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> The Rwby Characters Quirks are their Semblances but are more scientific. It’s not their aura that can produce their powers. It's their bodies and they all have limitations and side effects.
> 
> I made a post about it here on my blog with many other questions regarding the universe. 
> 
> https://remedyhunger.tumblr.com/post/615507338520150016/p-do-the-quirks-of-the-rwby-characters-work-the

It was a beautiful day, a perfect day for the young and restless youths that aspired to become heroes. Yang Xiao Long unfortunately wasn’t one of those people. She was only here for her sister. 

That sister was Ruby Rose, who was directly asked despite her age to take the troublesome entrance exam to the same high school their parents went to when they were Yang’s age. Now Yang didn’t object, but she also wasn’t keen on the idea of either of them being heroes. Her father despised All Might for reasons Yang never understood, but Ruby grew up with him and their late mother as her Idols. She would not let her baby sister’s dreams tarnish because of her own selfishness. 

Both Ruby and her have Quirks, so they can fight. Their father and uncle had taught the basics to them and Yang took the extra mile to attend gymnastics and dance classes so that she could move more fluidly. She didn’t want to rely on her powerful Quirk that allowed her to absorb any attack given to her body and dish it right back harder. She wanted others to see her as a capable fighter. 

She stretched her body and turned a lazy eye to the excited ball of energy that was her baby sister. Ruby looked around at all the other students within their group like a lost puppy. None of her friends would be here Yang reminded herself. The younger girl was nervous and eager to make new and older friends. 

Yang had decided on her own, that the best way to help Ruby would be to push her away so she could learn to fend for herself. She turned on her heels and scanned the group, her smile broadens when she spotted a pink skinned girl at the right-hand side. She knew her from dance classes, though they never spoke that much since Yang dubbed her as obnoxious. However if she was going to help Ruby, Yang would have to put up with the talkative girl. 

“Oh cool I know her from dance class! Sorry Rubes guess you’re on your own.” She said with a bright smile on her face. In hopes to lessen the pain that will be bestowed on her sister’s face. 

Ruby’s eyes widened and she grabbed her hand. “What! B-Big sis I don’t want to be alone, I thought we would do this together?”

“Sorry baby sis, but you gotta make your own friends, you can’t always rely on me.”

“But----”

“No but’s!” Yang said with a tone that ended the conversation. She patted the younger girl’s head and walked over to what would be the worst decision of her life. 

“Hey there, I know you from dance class!” The girl greeted her. Her black eyes with those dull golden irises peered at Yang with wonder and excitement. 

“Ashido right?” Yang said with a fake smile. She had a knack when it came to controlling her tone of voice. 

“You bet! Mina Ashido at your service, buuut you can call me Mina.” Mina said with a toothy grin. It was contagious and Yang’s smile became genuine. 

“Yang Xiao Long, but you can call me Yang.” She said softly before she felt an arm go around her shoulder and be pulled against the other girl's body. 

“I like you! We are totally gonna be friends if we pass! You have your Quirk under control now, right? I remembered your skin burned your dance clothes a lot.”

Yang groaned. This girl constantly pried into other people’s business. She wanted her to let go already. 

As Mina continued to ramble Yang let her eyes go to where her sister was. She seemed to be okay and was quietly in a conversation with a girl with long dark green hair and big eyes. The girl seemed nice and Yang had just decided to put her worried aside when she heard a voice so loud that it caused everyone to stop what they were doing.

The Pro-Hero who spoke was Present Mic the Voice Hero. His voice aggravated Yang more than Mina’s, but she listened closely to what she had to do to get into this school. 

_So all I have to do is kick these robots' butts? sounds easy enough. I just have to get them to hit me._

Yang nodded to herself and looked at Mina who smiled. The two waited for the doors to open and once they did they ran inside. 

Yang knew Mina was fast but the girl had improved immensely since they were younger. She glided her way to the front with ease and a cheeky smile directed at Yang. It made the blonde’s blood boil. She hated to lose, especially to someone like Mina.

Yang pushed herself and made her way to the front as fast as she could. She didn’t care if her body screamed at her to stop. She was determined to kick all the robots to the curb and pass, but just as she made it to the front-lines one of the robots managed to hit her hard in the face. She was immediately knocked on her butt with her arms up.

“Should have seen that coming.” She muttered to herself as golden fire burned its way up her right arm. She smirked at the 2P and got up to smash her fists together before running up to finish it with a hard punch. It fell right in front of her and Yang felt her Quirk absorb the pain that her fist endured. 

She was just getting started.

Two more 2Ps came towards her and with her hair lit up like fire, she let both come attack her all at once. She caught the first robot with her palm before she punched it and twisted her body so that her left leg kicked the other one to the ground. Her eyes glowed red, she was almost at a hundred percent, all she needed was a big robot to punch. 

With a glance up she saw the most dangerous of the machines an OP make its way to the area she was currently in. A manic grin spread across her face and she ran towards it. She was just about to make it when a 3P grabbed her hair and flipped her on her back. Yang looked up to see strands of her hair in its hands. Her eyes twitched.

_No one fucking touches my hair except my mom!_

Rage consumed her as she got up and punched the machine repeatedly, till it was nothing but a a pile of rubble. She then lifted it up with her enhanced strength and glared at the giant machine that came towards her. With a huff Yang threw the medium sized robot at the OP. 

It hit it’s target and made a huge dent to it. Yang was at a close enough distance for the impact to really do some damage

“Nailed it!” She pumped her fist up. The adrenaline had gotten to her.

She was having too much fun. This whole test made her excited about the school. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. If she became a hero she could travel the world, meet new people and to top it all off she would still be able to beat any villain that came in her way. She was so distracted by the numerous ideas in her head that she didn’t notice another 2P robot rushed towards her. 

Yang looked up ready to fight only to witness two whips and a person with dark hair attack. They held the robot down while the whips plugged themselves into the metal to emit a pulsing vibration. The impact caused the robot to immediately fall to the ground. Yang jumped from her spot and growled at the two who disrupted her fun. She was about to call them out but stopped once the smoke cleared.

There were two girls standing there.

One with a black bow on the top of her long dark hair with striking golden cat-like eyes. She was wearing purple leggings and a black crop top. Her jacket was white and wrapped around her waist. She had defined muscles and a smug smirk adored her lips. She looked rather satisfied with herself. 

The other had short purple hair with angular bangs that covered a little of her piercing indigo eyes and long distinguished earlobes with pointers at the end. Her hands were in the pockets of her black jacket with the collar popped and she wore black pants that were bunched up at her knees. She turned her head to only give Yang her profile and rolled her eyes. 

“I could have taken that…” Yang grumbled as she finally snapped out of her daze. 

“Sure dude, your blind rage told me otherwise.” The short haired girl said with a smirk on her lips. 

“Oi! I just hit a huge one and that bastard pulled my hair! No one touches my hair and gets away with it. Including machines!”

“Seriously--” The girl asked incredulously. 

The other girl rolled her eyes at the display and turned around. “Just thank us, we have other robots to destroy before time is up.”

Yang frowned. Why did these two help her? It was rare for heroes to work with one another out of sheer camaraderie. In this society, Pro-Heroes usually have to compete and put others down to succeed. It was one of the reasons she never wanted to become one. She loved competition, but it was lonely at the top and Yang hated being alone. 

“If you must know,” The ear-girl said carefully while winding one of her lobes. “This wasn’t my idea, Belladonna saw that you weren’t paying attention and dragged me to help out. In a way she convinced me that if we work together with all our Quirks, we could attack more robots than we could individually.” 

She looked at her after she said that. The girl’s cheeks were now a pretty shade of pink and Yang couldn’t help herself when she gave her a wink. Earlobes was shy, but still seemed pretty cool.

“I see, I’m Yang Xiao Long by the way! It’s a pleasure to meet you two.”

“Blake Belladonna, likewise.”

“Kyouka Jirou and as much as I would love to continue to chat, we really do need to keep fighting. This is an exam after all.”

Both Belladonna and Yang nodded at Jirou and the three made their way to another area and worked together for the remainder of the time.

Yang learned Belladonna’s Quirk gave her the ability to create shadow traces of herself and that they could aid her in making robots crash into each other. Though the more she used it the more sensitive her body became to the light and her legs started to lose its ability to move. She had to rely on her strength most of the time they fought. 

Jirou’s Quirk was a mutant type. She had wires on her earlobes that extended themselves to reach the robots and use the sound of her heart to short circuit them. Yang thought it was a pretty badass ability and gave her a cheer each time a robot fell at her mercy. It usually made Jirou blush and tell her to focus. That didn’t stop her. 

Yang punched another 3P robot with a charged fist when she heard that god forsaken voice of Present Mic. 

“TIME IS UP!”

Yang grinned at the amount of damage she caused. She turned around to Jirou and Belladonna and gave them a thumbs up. She was unaware of the amount of damage her body took and suddenly began to fall backwards. Pain shot through her and she became delicate. Soft hands caught her waist and she opened her eyes weakly to meet Belladonna’s concerned ones. Jirou was behind her and watched closely with a worried expression. 

"You used too much of your Quirk?” Belladonna muttered. 

“Heh, yeah I uh once all my blood settles my body becomes a delicate heap of trash...I need to work on that. Thank’s Belladonna.”

“You do,” Belladonna chuckled as she held Yang’s body. “and please call me Blake.”

Yang smiled at her and laughed. She felt another hand come in contact with her shoulder and looked down to see Jirou. 

“Y-You can call me Kyouka, if you want.” She muttered softly, her cheeks red as she looked off to the side.

“Aw, of course I want to! Ky-ou-ka.” Yang said playfully before she leaned in to bump the girl’s shoulder with her own. 

Kyouka glared at her and sighed. She then gave her a small smile and pulled back so they could walk out of the battle arena. 

Yang chuckled and looked up at the sky that shined brightly above them. She hoped she would be in the same class as these two. For the first time in a long time, she had made new friends, and she promised herself that she would never forget either of them.


	2. The Beginning Starts Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is pretty much the first day of class. Warning Mineta is an asshole. 
> 
> Also after this chapter. The whole story really begins. remember to visit the blog that's in the first chapter notes to understand the rwby characters and their quirks.

Two sisters walked side by side to their first day of class. Both managed to pass the U.A. entrance exam. Ruby, especially, caught the attention of the instructors. Her quirk was unique compared to the other students and it made Yang proud.

Unfortunately, after they received their acceptance mail a month ago, they only had a couple of weeks to prepare. They had to sketch their hero costumes and get all the paperwork done. Taiyang wasn’t thrilled, but he did help them train. He mentioned that the school was known for their grueling regime and he didn’t want either of their skills to dwindle.

Yang never felt more exhausted than she did after what that man and their Uncle Qrow put her though.

Ruby nervously played with the straps of her book bag, while Yang held her bag casually over her shoulder with her hands behind her neck.

“Why didn’t you let me wear my cape?” Ruby complained, her eyes downcast and fists tightened around the bands of her backpack.

Yang sighed. It took her all morning to convince the girl to not wear that red abomination. “Ruby. I love you, but that cape is way too childish for high school. Just stick to the standard uniform, okay?”

“Weren’t you the one that burned your tie?” Ruby deadpanned. Her eyes moved up and down to stare at Yang’s state of dress.

Yang frowned. Sure enough, she had no tie on. Instead the top few buttons of her shirt were undone and the bottom was untucked. She overslept and didn’t have time to do anything but her hair and teeth. Ruby said she looked like a delinquent, though Yang wasn’t bothered. In the past she was always pegged as one because of her hair and laid-back attitude.

“Shut up!”

“I’m just saying you’re going to get a lot of attention. Which means I will get a lot of attention.”

“Ruby, you're thirteen years old and attending high school. You're always gonna get the most attention.”

“T-That’s beside the point! I don’t know anyone here. At least you met people at the entrance exam that you liked.”

Yang rolled her eyes. She met some people, but that didn’t mean they would be in the same class as her. She stopped suddenly at a huge door with 1-A on it. She all at once felt nervous. She was about to enter high school, a new chapter in her life.

Yang glanced at her sister and placed a steady hand on her head. Ruby was really all she had left of her family. Sure, Taiyang was still around, but the man was hardly a father to them. All he did was cook, train them, and maintain the house. He was usually never around and always busy with work. It was Yang who had to pick up the pieces after their mother died. She had to be the emotional support that Ruby needed in order to stay happy.

In the end, Yang sacrificed more of her life than she originally intended. She was more worried about school work than her social life. She wanted to be an engineer, she’d always loved science and technology. Maybe there'd be a workshop here that she could visit?

“Yang, should we go in?” Ruby’s small voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Yep, let's do this!”

Yang reached for the door and slid it open. She pushed Ruby in front of her into the noisy classroom with a smirk.

Sadly, that caused Ruby to bump into a shorter, white-haired girl who was in the middle of a conversation with another student. Yang winced and followed Ruby in.

“What the- watch where you’re going, you dolt!” The girl yelled. Everyone turned their heads to the front.

“I-I’m sorry, my sister-” Ruby stammered, looking at Yang for help. She really couldn't deal with social situations sometimes.

“Weiss! Please stop, she apologized.” The taller girl with the high ponytail said calmly and placed her hands on Weiss’ shoulder.

Yang sighed and put her arm around her sister’s shoulder. "Yeah, Weiss, was it?” She said coolly. “She apologized. So, stop yelling at her, and go back to whatever fancy thing you and your friend were talking about.”

Weiss glared and pulled away from her friend. She stood with her back straight and head held high. Her lips were in a scowl and Yang noticed then just how Icy her eyes were.

“You have no idea who you are talking to, you brute,” She said with a cold tone.

“Excuse me?, I-”

“Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Hero Agency. That same agency that abuses their employees and has a noticeable faunus wage gap. A recommendation student with a quirk that specializes in summoning. Did I get that right?”

Yang and Weiss turned around to meet Blake Belladonna’s golden eyes. Yang felt her face grow hot. She was also in her U.A uniform with a pretty bow secured atop her head. She had a smirk on her face, directed only at Weiss. Yang wondered if they knew each other.

“Don’t talk to me that way, you ruffian!” Weiss began. Her hands started to glow and rings formed at her fingertips.

“Weiss, your quirk! Please calm down, this is a classroom, not a battlefield!” The pony-tailed girl begged.

Weiss and this girl were definitely friends. Maybe even childhood friends. They were way too casual to have just met.

“Yaoyorozu is right!” Another voice yelled out, belonging to an approaching young man with glasses. “This is our first day and there should be no roughhousing within the classroom. It's disrespectful, Schnee.”

Weiss bit her lip. She hung her head and muttered a quick apology before she made her way to the back of the room. Yang felt kind of bad, she looked rather crestfallen. It was still her fault for yelling at Ruby, though.

With a sigh, Yang looked back at Blake and smiled. The girl in question smiled back and motioned Yang to follow. Yang looked around as she made her way to where Blake sat. There was a girl with short red hair talking animatedly to a boy with black hair and a pink streak on his right bang. Even more noticeable, a boy with ash blonde hair caught her eye as she made her way to the seat next to him. He glared up at her as if he was trying to hold himself back, until he started to yell at a boy with sharp teeth.

_So far none of these people have impressed me. Well, except Blake._

Yang honestly wanted to ditch after that horrible first impression. She felt everyone staring at her and she hated being the center of attention. She glanced behind her to see Ruby had managed to recover from her mini panic attack and was now chatting to a boy with broccoli-looking hair, seeming just as nervous.

_At least she’s fine. As long as she’s happy… I’m happy._

“Oh man, look at those knockers Kaminari! She doesn’t even have her tie on. God I wonder if she’s wearing a bra!.” An obnoxious voice made Yang stop in her tracks, Blake next to her glared at the person to her right.

He was small and had these gross looking purples balls on his head. Yang honestly couldn't look at him any further because he was so ugly. Next to him was a blonde haired boy with a black lightning streak on his right bang. He looked slightly uncomfortable, but his eyes moved downward to her chest.

“Damn, Mineta wasn’t kidding.”

_Bastard-_

Yang’s quirk began to flicker against her skin and she took a deep breath to stop it from burning up her sleeves. She was about to tell him off, but she was interrupted by a shock from a wire plugged into his left ear.

He fell against his desk and Yang looked on in surprise.

“Damn idiot, really needs to stop being a creep,” A familiar voice said harshly. Yang’s eyes widened at her long earlobes and dark eyes.

Kyouka had her elbow on the desk with her palm on her cheek. She gave Yang a sympathetic look as her cheeks turned slightly pink out of embarrassment.

“Sorry about him…”

Kyouka really needed to work on her awkwardness, but Yang didn’t mind. She let out a laugh and placed her hand on Kyouka's shoulder with a ‘thank you.’.

That earned Yang a deep blush. Kyouka was so shy, but that just made her cuter.

“Yang! Awesome we’re in the same class!” Mina’s cheery voice came out of nowhere.

Yang groaned at the sudden hug from behind. She was still sore from last night, though she wasn’t gonna deny the fact that she was glad to have Mina with her. She wasn’t as bad as she was when they were ten.

“I mean I knew we were gonna see each other again, but this soon? Destiny must want us in the same place, huh!”

“Yeah. Destiny sure wants me to have a headache all the time,” Yang joked, “but I’m happy to see you too.”

Mina tightened her grip and Yang wanted to die. “Well who did you want to be in class with?”

Yang felt her cheeks redden while glancing to the side where Blake read a book with a bored expression, to Kyouka who continued to make fun of Kaminari about something.

“No one in particular.”

“Nope! You're blushing, who is it?” Mina gasped.

“A lady never tells her secrets, Mina.” Yang said. “Now get off of me.”

“I'll let it slide because you're cute." Mina scoffed.

Yang laughed and shoved Mina off her, before she took the seat behind Kyouka and next to Blake. She rolled her right shoulder and winced at the ache. The night before she was on hand-to-hand with Ruby, but they went a little overboard and used their quirks. Yang could endure a lot of pain until it actually started to affect her body’s functionality.

Ruby had grown stronger since the entrance exam. Last night she totaled Yang in their match.

_Good thing Uncle Qrow had some gummies from Recovery Girl. Otherwise I would not be at school today..._

Yang remembered his lecture afterwards, but stirred when she sensed two pairs of eyes. She smiled to herself. Blake and Kyouka were the only ones that knew about her quirk’s limits besides her family.

She turned to her right to reassure Blake that she was fine and then leaned forward to poke Kyouka’s back. Her smile became devious when Kyouka yelped in surprise.

_That was for the rage comment back during the exam._

“Don’t do that!” Kyouka growled and turned her whole body around to glare at Yang. “I nearly had a heart attack!”

“Sorry, I just wanted you to know I’m okay,” Yang said awkwardly as she scratched the back of her neck.

Kyouka’s glare softened. She blushed again and turned her head away before poking Yang’s cheek with one of her jacks. It was the first time Yang felt the quirk against her skin and she could have sworn she felt a soft buzz come from it. She liked it.

“You really are a pain in my ass, Yang,” Kyouka mumbled.

“Guilty as charged! My old homeroom teacher said the same thing.” It was true, even though in junior high Yang was the smartest in her class. She just had the wrong attitude for a model student.

Kyouka rolled her eyes, but still laughed a little. Yang’s smile widened. She heard Blake chuckle next to her, and just as she was about to continue the conversation the ugly boy from earlier walked to her desk.

Yang felt a shiver go down her spine when the boy stopped and leaned in to place his hands on her desk. It wasn’t unusual for her, since she had a horrible tendency to get hit on by guys who thought they were hot stuff. If they tried to touch her it usually came with a price.

“So, your name is Yang huh? I’m Minoru Mineta. What does a guy like me have to do to get a girl like you?” He started to ramble as he began to blush and drool. “Seriously not too bulky, not too lean. You’re-”

“Just right?” Yang asked with disinterest. She already wanted to hurt him.

“Yeah! You even have a nice abundant chest that is perfect for-” He began as his grubby hands made a move towards her.

That was a bold move. Not even the adults that had hit on her when she was still in junior high were that stupid. With a fake smile, Yang leaned in so that she was near his ear. Her hand on the edge of the desk moved quietly underneath. “I get hit on a lot, but you sure are the stupidest one of all.

Yang grabbed Mineta from where he was standing. The balls on his head just wouldn’t do. She squeezed tightly with a devious grin. “You can just call me sir, asshole.”

Mineta squeaked in pain as Yang lifted and threw him to the back of the classroom. He hit the wall behind a young man with red and white hair. He didn’t seem to mind, not making a move to help the pervert.

_Good riddance…_

“Holy shit you just totaled him! He had annoyed me since I got here,” Mina cheered at her desk.

“That was so rockin’. I can’t believe you did that!” Kyouka hunched over her desk to hide her giggles.

“My hero! I had to deal with him during the entrance exam, so thanks!” An invisible girl said from the front.

“You too?! I almost broke his legs because he kept trying to touch my ass,” the short redhead said with a manic grin.

“Yeah! Go Yang, teach that perv a lesson!” Ruby said excitedly as she stopped talking to the brown-haired girl next to her, who also looked impressed.

“Xiao Long, this is highly inappropriate!” The glasses boy said, flabbergasted.

“The fucker had it coming,” the boy with the ash blonde hair said as if this hardly deserved his time. All Yang could do was shrug as more people spoke up.

She saw Weiss stare at her from her seat in the back row with a look of respect. Yang smiled softly and gave her a thumbs up. In return, Weiss blushed and rolled her eyes.

_Same old, same old._

“Maybe he won’t be able to function after that. I hope he didn’t think that would work,” Blake said next to her.

“I kinda feel bad for him,” Kaminari said loudly, which earned him a shock in the ear from Kyouka.

“You would.”

“Look-” Kaminari began to argue but was interrupted when the door to the classroom opened

A man clad in a black outfit with wraps around his neck walked into the room with bloodshot eyes and a look of utter apathy on his face.

“It took you eight seconds to settle down. That’s disappointing” He said with a deadly voice as everyone straightened their backs and held out a pencil.

“Alright, let's get this over with. Put these on now.” The man said as he threw dark blue gym uniforms at everyone within the class. He paused as his eyes settled on an empty desk.

“Where’s Mineta?”

Yang froze. The man she assumed as the pro-hero Eraserhead turned his head towards her. He did not look amused.

Yang felt sick. Was she going to get in trouble? Expelled? The guy was literally trying to grab her breasts and she was just defending herself. Her teacher wouldn’t know that. She should be allowed to feel safe within the classroom. All of the girls should.

Everyone kept silent, though Kaminari made a move to answer before Kyouka kicked him. She fidgeted, She should just come clean. Maybe he’d just give her a detention or something. Though just the thought of spending time with Eraserhead made her nervous.

_Great… Ruby was right, I am a delinquent._

“He went to the bathroom, Sensei,” The boy with the multicolored hair called out.

Yang saw him angle himself in front of Mineta. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe, for now. She mouthed a thank you, but the boy looked away.

Eraserhead sighed and muttered something about Mineta being troublesome. He then threw his gym uniform on the empty desk, before ordering everyone to get dressed in the locker rooms and meet him outside.

Yang stared at the uniform in her hands and couldn’t contain her distaste. It looked tacky. She sighed and got up with the rest of her new friends. She swung her arm around Ruby’s shoulder to make her feel safe. That was the least she could do to calm her down.

U.A was going to be worse than training with Taiyang, and despite the pain in Yang’s muscles, she couldn’t wait.


	3. Battle Trials RW vs BY

Ruby was tired. She was tired and she hurt all over.

She looked up at her sister who currently had her gym uniform jacket open. Yang, despite all the pain she went through, still gave it her all. Ruby always admired how strong and determined she was. 

_Well, there was nothing to do but wait for the scoreboard._

She bit her lip while searching for her position out of the twenty-eight students in the class. Yang was number four, yet she didn’t seem that impressed at the score. Confused, Ruby looked back at the board and found her name at number eight. At least it wasn't last place. She heard a gasp at one of the students and turned to see a pale, blonde boy with his jaw open. 

_Ohhh, that’s gotta hurt._

“And I was lying, no one is going home,” Aizawa-sensei said. 

_Wait… what?_

“That was just a rational deception,” he smiled, “to make sure you gave it your all in the tests.” 

Ruby wanted to die. Yang covered her mouth with a smirk underneath her hand while Blake next to her was also holding back a laugh. They both knew and they didn’t tell her? Ruby pouted and pushed her sister with her shoulder. Yang just shoved right back. 

“I’m surprised the rest of you didn’t figure that out. I’m sorry, I guess I should have said something,” Yaoyorozu said. Her hands were on her hips as she stood next to Weiss, who just rolled her eyes. 

“Momo, don’t be. It's their own fault for not understanding the purpose of the tests.” 

Most of the reactions from the other students that occurred were of disbelief. At least Ruby wasn’t the only one who believed Aizawa-sensei. She eyed Weiss with curiosity, unable to understand how she could be so mean. Ruby may be the youngest of the class, and probably the most inexperienced, but still, she was determined to show them all she could become a hero. 

Weiss was next to the two taller recommendation girls, standing with pride and regality. She was like a princess and the others were her knights. It was a rather cool picture in Ruby’s mind, like a storybook. 

Ruby remembered back in the classroom when Weiss’ quirk almost activated. The way the rings formed on her fingertips both frightened and excited her, knowing now what the girl was capable of.

Ruby felt an arm around her shoulder and jumped when Yang slumped over her. She smiled softly and patted her older sister’s mess of hair. 

“Remember to get the syllabus in class, Rubes. I know you weren’t paying attention,” Yang whispered into her ear before pulling back. She then turned to her new group of friends, leaving Ruby alone.

“Hey, are you just going to stand there, you dolt?” Weiss’ voice called. 

“Uhh…” 

“Class is over, so stop standing there and get moving.” 

Ruby blinked. This wasn’t something she expected from Weiss. It was confusing, but maybe they could be friends. She ran after the rest of her classmates and made it to the lockers, in hopes of finding Yang so they could go home together. 

“That was so much fun!” She said out loud, forgetting that there were other people around. She sometimes tended to talk out her thoughts, a habit that her sister told her to lose. She covered her face immediately when all the older girls turned their attention to her. 

Yang burst out with laughter as she buttoned up her school shirt. She was already in her skirt and was just putting her jacket on. Blake smiled beside her too as she buttoned up her blazer. 

“Ruby, if that’s what you call fun, I worry that you train too much.”

“Well, considering me and Yang train most of the time…” Ruby trailed off as she found her locker between Uraraka and Valkyrie’s.

“Hey, how old are you anyway?” An invisible girl named Hagakure asked. 

Ruby froze. It wasn’t a secret that her and Yang are sisters at this point. They were pretty open about it with the way they acted during the exams. She swallowed hard and gave an honest answer. 

“I... um. I’m thirteen.”

Several people dropped what they were holding. With the exception of Yang, Yaoyorozu, Blake, Jirou and Ashido.

“I- I was given permission to take the entrance exam and passed. It wasn’t something I was planning, I swear!” 

Her body shook as she pressed against her locker. Everyone looked at her like she was a child, and Ruby hated that. 

“No one is judging you, so chill!” She heard a bubbly voice. “In fact, I think it's awesome. Revel in it!”

Ruby looked to see Ashido, one of Yang’s friends, smile at her. She was leaning against her locker, ready to go, with amusement in her eyes. She looked so cool and welcoming. 

“Mina is right, Ruby. Besides, wait till everyone actually sees your quirk in action. I’m telling you guys, this is the girl that beat me in a match last night.“

Ruby laughed and pulled out of her school uniform to change. 

Yang patted her head and walked out with her friends. It impressed Ruby how fast her sister got ahead of her. She almost felt jealous. It was so easy for Yang to make friends. 

“I had a strange feeling you were a little younger than me,” The girl called Uraraka said from next to her. Her voice and eyes were warm. “You keep talking about cookies like they’re the best dessert in the world.”

Ruby blushed and scratched her neck. “Can you blame me? They’re the best and cheapest!”

“I can’t argue with that!”

Ruby smiled as Uraraka laughed with her. She asked her if she wanted to walk out together. Ruby nodded excitedly and put her jacket on in a rush. 

_She still wants to be my friend. YES!_

Ruby and Uraraka walked and debated over other foods and heroes. Uraraka was pretty fun to talk to and Ruby didn’t want their conversation to end. 

It did once they got outside. Ruby saw her sister and the others, all gawking at Yang’s bike. It was their ride, since Yang always seemed to get in trouble taking the train. 

_Well it’s not her fault…._

She couldn’t help be proud of how cool Yang looked with her aviators on or how she leaned on the bike. Yang was the definition of cool in most people's books. Ruby, however, knew how much of a geek she is. She waved at Uraraka who smiled back before leaving. 

Ruby ran over to where the others were and put her bag in the back compartment on the motorcycle. 

“Took you long enough.” 

“I was busy with a friend, for your information,” she answered proudly. 

“Nice!” 

Ruby grabbed the red helmet in the back where Yang sat. She heard the other students complimenting and rolled her eyes. It wasn’t that cool once you got used to it.

“One of these days you gotta let me ride this thing!” Mina said.

“You need a license, Mina, you only get to ride it if I’m driving,” Yang sighed. 

“I know! But you’re so lucky, I hate taking the train!” 

“Sucks for you.” 

Ruby heard laughter come from Jirou. She tilted her head. That joke wasn’t even funny. It wasn’t even really a joke. Why was she laughing? 

“Okay, I think it's time for us to go,” Yang declared and revved up her bike. The girls and some of the guys moved back as Yang pulled out from her spot. Ruby held on tight to her and pressed her head to her back. She was so tired. The day went really long and she needed to rest. 

* * *

Weiss sighed heavily as she stepped out of the car. She thanked the driver for his service and walked to the gate of her home in silence. 

_Today was not a good day._

Not only did she almost lose her temper in the classroom, but despite knowing that the physical exams weren’t going to get her expelled, it didn't help that she got seventh place as her overall score. She knew she wasn’t as strong as the boys in her class but it annoyed her that Xiao Long of all people got fourth place. Even Momo, Shouto and Pyrrha got higher than her. Pyrrha was number one, Momo was number two and Shouto was number three. All the other recommended students were at the top, but she was not. Even Bakugou and Belladonna scored higher than her. 

Her father was going to be furious because of where she placed in the physical exam. 

Weiss brought a hand to the scar on her right eyes. She shook her head. She shouldn’t show weakness. Not in front of him, of all people. 

She made her way to the door of the Schnee Mansion and stepped back as the door opened, courtesy of her personal butler Klein. His warm face and odd expressions had always calmed her down. He was one of the only people in her family that had cared about her well-being, since her sister Winter graduated her Hero Academy three years ago.

Now she was known to people as White Queen, the Commanding Hero. She worked under Due Process at his Hero Agency. 

Weiss swore to herself that she would be strong like her. She wanted to make Winter proud. She thought about Rose. She was also a younger sister. Weiss had her suspicions, but it all connected once Xiao Long had defended her. Surely Momo had also figured it out. It was quite obvious. 

Despite her disinterest, Weiss couldn't help but notice Ruby Rose. Her Quirk was quite unique, from what Weiss saw with the way she used it for the speed tests. She was almost faster than Iida. The fact that Xiao Long boasted about it in the locker room made her even more intrigued. That quirk was so familiar to Weiss, but she forgot where she had seen it. 

“Miss Weiss, your father would like to speak with you,” Klein said while they walked up the stairs together. “He appears to be rather upset, so do take caution.”

“I will Klein, thank you.” 

“My pleasure, Miss Weiss.”

With a bow, Klein made his way back downstairs, leaving Weiss alone in front of the door that led to her father’s den. 

Weiss took a steady breath. She wished Momo was here to whisk her away to her room, but she knew Momo also had a home. Still, it was always nice to have her near. Momo seemed to be the only one that understood her, and yet she still hadn’t told her how she got her new scar. After all, she only got it a day before the recommendation exam. 

“Weiss, is that you?” 

“Yes Father.” She opened the door and made her way to the center of the chilled room. 

Weiss watched her father busy himself on his computer. He glared at it for a few seconds before his attention snapped to her. 

“Seventh place? You got seventh place in the Quirk Apprehension Test! How is that even possible?”

“Well-”

“The rest of the recommended students scored higher than you. You are a Schnee, we always get the highest score in everything.”

She bit her lip. The last time she argued with him she earned her scar. She stared blankly at the screen that mocked her with her score. How he got access to it, she would never know. Her father always had his ways. 

“It won’t happen again.” 

“Get out.” He turned back to his work. 

* * *

The next day went on as expected for Yang. She got to class, goofed around with Mina, Kyouka, and Blake, and even talked to Kirishima who kept talking about her manliness. She didn’t know if she should take that as a compliment or not. She didn’t like to be judged by her style. Then again, she still hadn’t gotten a new tie. 

During lunch she met a girl named Mei Hatsume. She’d seen Yang’s bike and asked her if she made it, and Yang couldn't help but boast. The others who overheard her were confused when the two began to talk about mechanics. Yang clearly had a passion for tech. 

“You should totally come to the support workshop! I have so many things to show you,” Hatsume gushed. 

“Yeah, maybe I will after school, if you’re still around?” Yang nodded and then pulled Ruby near her. “She’d love to as well, she’s nuts about hero gear.”

“C-Can I?”

“Of course!” Hatsume answered with a big smile. “Anyway, nice talking to you Xiao Long. Totally come by, I’ll be waiting.”

Yang waved her hand and turned around to find Mina and Kyouka looking on in amusement.

“What?”

“I didn’t know you were such a nerd.” Kyouka said. “No wonder you got the answer right in math…”

“I hate math,” Yang defended. 

“Yeah, she complained about it every day in junior high,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes as she continued to eat her rice. “Even though she got straight A’s.” 

“Ruby!”

Kyouka snorted and Mina laughed loudly. Yang shrunk in her seat. She felt weird when people boast about her intelligence. Not that she minded, she loved a good ego boost. Being called a nerd wasn’t her favorite, though. 

“You totally have to help me with my math, I think I’m gonna fail just after one lesson,” Mina groaned, leaning forward on the table. “I swear, I’ll even pay you.”

“No need.” Yang said. “You’re my friends, I'll help you in whatever class. Just not literature. I hate that more than math.” Books were good, but when you’re forced to read them it gets boring. 

“Really?” Kyouka asked. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink and one jack tangled around her finger. 

“Yeah!” 

“You’re the best!” Mina cheered. 

Blake sat next to them, busy drawing in a book. She was rather absentminded the whole lunch period. Yang peered to see what was in the book, it was quickly closed shut. Her bow twitched suddenly and she turned to look at Yang.

“What are you doing?”

“Uhh…” Yang began, cursing herself in her head. “I wanted to see what you were drawing.”

“Oh, it's nothing interesting. “

“Right… sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Blake said. “Though how many slots are open for your tutoring? Math was always my worst subject.”

Yang laughed and nudged Blake. It surprised her that someone who looked as studios as Blake would be bad at math. Maybe she did best in things like literature and art history, one of them being Yang’s worst subject. 

“Ahh, I don’t know, maybe like one more left, though that one is usually reserved for Ruby. Maybe if you trade me a subject, I can squeeze in one more spot?” 

“I’m guessing that’s modern literature then? You looked awfully bored reading the assigned book. I already read that one. You should finish it, it has a great moral.”

Blake grinned at Yang as her eyes shined with passion. The smile she gave Yang was softer than the ones she usually gave to people. She learned quickly Blake wasn’t someone who did that a lot. Not genuinely.

Yang let her eyes wander to Ruby, and then, by extension, what seemed to be the recommendation student table, with the absence of Todoroki. Schnee was next to Yaoyorozu and across from Nikos. The three had their books open and Yang figured they were looking at their homework assignments.

A boy with blonde hair went over to them, his eyes specifically on Schnee. She looked utterly appalled at what Yang guessed was his attempt to flirt. She winced when Yaoyorozu glared at him and asked him, still politely, to leave. Nikos, on the other hand, seemed to pity him. Her gaze was sympathetic.

“I- I didn’t mean it like that! What would you want to be called?”

“I don’t want to be called anything, you moron, I’m not interested in you.” 

Yang couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He just got turned down in front of everyone. Jaune Arc was his name, and he was second-to-last to Midoriya in the Quirk Apprehension Test. He was rather weak despite his physical status and his quirk really didn’t do much. How he even got into the hero course, she would never know.

“Ouch, that has gotta hurt.” 

“That boy has zero game, I can’t believe he even tried with her. And Ice Queen?” Mina shook her head. 

“He’s not that bad. I mean, he just wanted to be her friend, right?” Ruby said, confused. 

Yang patted her head. She knew Ruby wasn’t naive, but sometimes she missed certain social cues. Then again, like her, Ruby never cared about romance in the slightest. She was too focused on being a hero like her mother. 

Yang suddenly frowned at the thought and didn’t notice Mina getting up from her seat to hug Ruby tightly. 

“Oh my god, you’re so cute. I’m gonna keep all the boys away from you!” She fawned. 

“Can’t breathe, Ashido, can’t breathe.”

“Hey, hey you can call me Mina. Any sister of Yang is now a sister of mine.”

“Careful Yang, she really might steal her” Kyouka joked before the bell rang for their afternoon classes. 

It was time for their first Heroics class. 

Yang sat down at her desk and waited with everyone else for the teacher. If the rumors were true, she knew she would have a hard time. It’s not like she disliked All Might. Just that she grew up in a household that was split about him.

On one side there was her sister and Uncle Qrow. Qrow was the number ten pro-hero Omen. He looks up to All Might and is a strong ally of his. Ruby grew up with stories of him and their mom. The girl was hooked on being a hero ever since. 

Taiyang on the other hand dislikes All Might, for reasons Yang was never told about. He just thought what the man believed in with the commission and the schools wasn’t right for kids. He argued about how they advertise young heroes and, in the end, when they die, they are all forgotten in some way. 

Yang clenched her jaw. Their mom was a hero. White Rose was her name, and she was powerful. She managed to become the number three hero when she was alive. When she died, Yang was only at the age of four and Ruby was two. 

“Yang! Are you okay?”. 

Kyouka was turned all the way from her desk in front. Her dark eyes flickered with emotion. It was the most Yang had ever seen from her. 

“Huh?”

Kyouka’s eyes went back to their usual expression. “Your heartbeat, I can hear it. It sounded like a jackhammer. I asked if you’re okay?”

Yang looked away. She put her hand to her heart and could feel it pound into her chest. 

“I- I’m just so excited to see our teacher, that's all!” She laughed loudly while trying to hide her face. This was maybe the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her.

_Oh yeah, I like girls, that’s nothing new._

“Uh-huh, tell me what’s up later.”

_Fiddlesticks…_

Yang took a deep breath and leaned her head on her hands as she dug her elbows further against her desk. 

It was going to be a long afternoon. 

“I AM HERE, COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!”

Correction: it's going to be a long year. 

Yang could hear everyone geek out on him and couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She glanced to her right to see Blake also had a bored expression. At least she wasn’t alone with this complicated feeling about All Might. 

* * *

Blake waited for All Might to announce the lesson. She wasn’t the biggest fan of his, but she did admire him for how he helped her father form his organization for the faunus cause. Sadly, she knew that the school was not going to teach about the dark age when faunus quirk users weren’t even allowed to have a hero license, let alone have a faunus principal. 

She moved her eyes to the crow faunus that occupied the seat in front of Schnee. She felt terrible for Tokoyami. He was a nice guy and seemed to understand her pain when they were learning hero history in Excelsa’s class. He spoke in a Shakespearean way and was the only one that figured out her bow hid something. 

_My ears…_

She had left Yang’s side when she went to her motorcycle and then made her own way to the train station. Apparently Tokoyami lived near her and spotted her taking off her bow after she exited their station. He told her he wouldn’t tell anyone and asked how she enjoyed her first day. It was a nice walk home.

“YOUR FIRST LESSON IS BATTLE TRAINING!”

Blake perked up and her eyes went back to the front. She smirked as All Might pressed a button to reveal everyone’s hero costumes. She felt her fingers tap as she leaned forward with everyone else. Yang was smiling, excited, and Blake could tell she was itching to get her costume on. 

“All right! Get yourself suited up and meet me at Training Ground Beta!”

“Yes Sir!” Blake affirmed him along with everyone. 

If Adam saw her now, he’d want her dead. She was becoming what he hated, and couldn’t be any prouder of her decision. 

* * *

Weiss looked at Momo’s costume with disgust. She really hated the fact that her childhood best friend had to go around looking like that. She wanted to burn it with fire. 

“Is it that bad?” Momo asked nervously as they walked to the training ground. 

“I want to burn it, Momo.” 

“They said it would help with my quirk, since I need skin cells free to create,” she argued.

“I don’t care, they could have made it less revealing. There are plenty of ways to make it more functional. You see, this is why I sometimes hate this business, they treat women heroes like garbage.”

“You are in a rather grumpy mood today… was it Arc?” 

“Why did he think he had a chance with me? Right in front of everyone too, and don’t get me started on that girl.”

“He was, as you would say, a moron,” Momo said with distaste before changing the subject. “Rose, though. doesn’t seem bad. She has a lot of potential for someone younger than us. I was surprised at how close she was to Iida in the speed tests.”

“I guess. Does her quirk seem familiar to you?” 

“No, why?”

“No reason.”

Momo frowned at her before looking away. Weiss knew Momo dreamed of being a hero since they were four, the girls used to play knights and princesses whenever Momo came over during banquet dinners. She was always the knight who wanted to save the princess. It was a nice memory, just a little childish. She really did appreciate their friendship. 

She looked ahead to see the other students. She gawked at some of their outfits. It seriously amazed her how much skin some of the outfits showed. She couldn’t help but stare at Xiao Long and Belladonna. Their hero costumes were revealing but still modest. 

Weiss’ eyes went straight to Xiao Long’s bomber jacket and her aviators. Though, what really caught her attention were her bracelets. They were a gaudy yellow with black trimming, bulky and bright. 

_They are hideous…_

Weiss couldn’t help herself. Fashion was in her blood and Xiao Long was a disaster waiting to happen. Belladonna though seemed more put together. Her outfit was made of a gauzy material, though Weiss was sure it was white in the light of the sun. Weiss was rather curious about the black ribbons wrapped around her wrists. It looked a lot like the material Eraserhead had for his scarf. 

_Acceptable_.

She nodded to herself before Momo gently poked her to listen to the teacher. 

All Might explained the trial and how it worked. There would be two teams that consisted of two pairs each. One will be the heroes, and the other the villains. For the heroes to win, they had to retrieve a nuclear missile the villains possessed or capture them. Villains just need to defeat the heroes or protect the item for a certain amount of time in order to get their pay. 

“Ohh, cool! Just like a video game!” a small feminine voice said from a pool of students. 

All Might turned his attention to her and smiled brightly. “You’re correct, Rose! It is like a video game.” He then lifted up an open box from behind him. “Now, time is limited and we will choose teams by drawing lots!

Weiss frowned. She wanted to pair up with Pyrrha, Momo, or Shouto. Otherwise, could this day get any worse?

* * *

Ruby wanted to cry as she stared at the big letter K and the girl next to her. Why was it always her that ended up with the worst luck? 

Yang and Blake were already discussing their battle plans. Yang had her fists together and her glasses on her head as Belladonna nodded her head in agreement to whatever had been said. 

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you. If that boy does anything to Momo, I will summon a stampede.”

Ruby laughed to herself. Weiss had her arms crossed as her fingers glowed dimly all while glaring at Mineta, who was paired with Yaoyorozu.

“You two really are close, huh?”

“Mind your own business!”

Ruby huffed and turned her full body to the shorter girl. She straightened her back and held her head as high as she could. She was tired of Weiss’ attitude. 

“Oh, come on! We’re supposed to be partners in this and work together. I didn’t ask to be your partner.”

“Whatever.”

Ruby sighed and turned her attention back to the front. The first battle was assigned.

“Team A Heroes vs Team D Villains.”

Ruby felt a shiver go down her spine and moved to look at Uraraka, who was in Team A. She was slightly worried because of the explosive boy, Bakugou, right? He intimidated her yesterday with his shouting and cursing. She hoped Uraraka and Midoriya would be okay. 

She grinned at Uraraka and gave her a thumbs up, who in return winked at her before giving her attention back to All Might. 

“So, it’s settled. Everyone else goes to the moderating room while Team A and Team D stay put.”

“Yes sir!” Ruby muttered as she walked next to her partner. She looked back at Uraraka and Midoriya and hoped that they’d make it out without too many bruises. 

* * *

Yang watched in shock as Arc fell to his knees on the huge screen in front of her. It was now Team L vs Team N: Team L were the heroes and Team N were the villains. She had to admit, the teams were something. Nikos was like Nike in battle. She could maneuver her way through all the debris that Valkyrie caused with her fists. Yang could analyze her polarity quirk pretty well. She was using the metal around her to create her shields and weapons. It was mind-blowing. 

However, her partner Arc couldn’t even hold his ground with Ren who was like a ninja with his flips and smoke bombs that had the chemicals his quirk produced. Arc may have helped Nikos boost her quirk but he accidently did that for the other two as well. In this instance, the villains had an advantage. 

“I’m queen of the castle, I’m queen of the castle! Ren, finish her!” Valkyrie yelled as the boy only responded with a smirk of his own. 

_Oh, so he can show emotions…_

She honestly thought he was just stoic, but when he spoke to Valkyrie, he used an amused tone and humored her in little ways. Yang thought it was adorable. 

“Wow, Poor Nikos being paired up with such a waste...” She heard Mineta mutter in back of her. 

“He can barely keep up. He has a lot to learn,” Mina winced at Nikos falling from another attack just as she almost reached the missile. 

“Moron… should have never gotten into this class.” Weiss said coldly.

“Holy shit! She just double KO-ed them!” Kirishima shouted.

He was right. Nikos managed to dodge Ren’s punch and grip his costume to flip him over her back with ease. She grabbed her makeshift shield and threw it at Valkyrie's stomach, who fell to the ground in pain. Nikos then grabbed the rope on the ground and tied them up neatly to the pole nearby, before she walked over to help a loopy Arc on the ground. 

Everyone cheered for Nikos and her amazing battle skills. She managed to finish the job with only 50 seconds left! Yang felt pumped. She really wanted to fight Nikos one of these days, after all, she was one of the recommendation students.

“I really want to get out there.” She said to Blake.

“Likewise. I wonder who we’re going to fight.” 

Yang could only nod her head and wait for Nikos to come into the moderating room, which she did, with Arc slug over her shoulder. All the kids ran over to her and gushed about how she defeated such a powerful pair. Valkyrie patted Nikos on her back in good sportsmanship, while Ren awkwardly stood there. Arc looked like he was about to throw up. 

“I should take him to Recovery Girl.” Nikos began to take the boy out of the room. 

“The next teams are Team K as the Heroes vs Team M as the Villains.” 

Yang put her fist in her palm as her team was finally called. She looked to Ruby, who was in Team K, and her excitement grew. 

“You are so going down, sis. Don’t think I am gonna be easy on you.”

“Aren’t I the one who should be saying that?” 

The villains had to be set up before the battle began, so Yang left with Blake after punching Ruby’s shoulder. Yang once again smashed her fists together as her quirk began to light up. 

* * *

Blake looked at the building that Yang and her were supposed to be in. They decided earlier that if they were the villains, Yang would be the one who guarded the missile due to her speed and brute strength. Blake was the one with the higher agility status, taking third after Ruby. The problem was, if she used her traces more than once at the same time, she would temporarily be paralyzed due to her shadow being gone. So, she had to be careful with the amount she used to distract her opponents. 

“So, you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Yang nodded at her and the two went to their positions. Yang took the stairs up to the room where they hid the missile, while Blake made her way down the halls of the building to look for darkened areas, she could hide in. She secured the ribbons on her wrists and grappled one of the pipelines. She was especially determined to beat Schnee. She didn’t like the girl and never would.

_She’s too far up her own ass to be reasoned with._

Blake waited in silence for her prey. This would be just like the time she helped Adam steal one of the many impeccable weapons made at the Schnee Hero Agency. All she had to do was to use everything to her advantage. 

She analyzed the way Schnee had to keep still whenever she summoned a creature, and knew she could use her speed to make her lose focus. On the other hand, Ruby, who had to unfortunately be Schnee’s partner, had extraordinary speed and could make her way to the weapon in one swoop. Blake knew she had to think carefully how to defeat both of them. It’s not like she could use the whole building to her advantage like Nikos and Todoroki did. 

**_“Blake can you hear me?”_ **

“Loud and clear.”

**_“Cool, the battle is about to begin, so let's get this done quick.”_ **

“Easier said than done Xiao Long. Don’t get cocky on me.”

**_“I’m not, I’m terrified of fighting Ruby.”_ **

Blake chuckled to herself. Yang did mention that Ruby totaled her in a sparring match. Maybe she should heed the other’s advice and get this done as quickly as possible. Then again, she had never really seen Ruby’s quirk at its peak.

_Just what is her quirk?_

* * *

Ruby nervously stood next to Weiss as they went over the instructions. The missile was somewhere in the building and all they had to do was find it while avoiding capture. She looked at Weiss to search for any clues to what the other girl was thinking. No luck.

“So, who should retrieve the Missile?”

“You.”

“What?! Me?”

“Yes, don’t make me repeat myself!” Weiss growled as she turned away. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re the fastest between us, and the only one capable of getting to the missile before time is up.” 

Ruby frowned. Weiss may have complimented her in a way, but she was still being mean. She sighed and pulled her cape closer to her. It was the one that she drew using the model of her mother’s white one. She always wanted something similar to feel like a real hero. 

She didn’t realize she spaced out until it was too late. Weiss had already started to walk to the building. 

“Hey! Wait, don’t leave without me.”

“Then don’t be a dolt.” 

Ruby growled. She thought she got through to the girl when they were paired, but Weiss was being way too stubborn. It was annoying.

She stomped on the ground and walked after her partner, determined to prove to Weiss she was more capable than she seemed. She looked down to see her hand shake and transform into flowing petals. This usually happened when her emotions were uncontrollable, but it was way worse when she was younger. Then she always ended up in the infirmary because she was still learning to put herself back together. She just really hated biology. 

Taking a deep breath, her hand went back to normal. When suddenly, the ground rumbled. Ruby started to look around for the source only to see the ground getting smaller. 

_W-What the-!_

“Hm! This will help us get into the building.”

Ruby blinked before realizing the thing started moving. She looked down to meet the eyes of a giraffe. It looked too real. 

“I can summon any creature if I study their biology. Obviously, they don’t last as long as real ones, but this is the one I can manage to create without using all my energy.”

“It’s a giraffe!”

Weiss rolled her eyes and ignored her as the giraffe helped them to the second level of the building. Ruby held on tightly to her to keep herself from falling and once they got through the open window, the real battle began. 

Ruby went in front to inform Weiss about any traps that could come their way. If she knew Yang and how the girl fought, she would be where the missile was. 

“You think you can take down Blake?” she asked.

“Belladonna? Of course, I would gladly take her down.” 

Ruby felt a little awkward as she saw the smirk playing on Weiss’ lips. She knew that both Weiss and Blake disliked each other, but she didn’t think they wanted to hurt one another. 

“We’re just going to catch them, you know the rules!”

“I know that! I just want to fight her.”

Her tone of voice was soft and Ruby could only keep walking. She didn't know what their issues were but she had a missile to find. 

“Get down!” 

Ruby looked up to see someone jump from the shadows. She swung her way to the two heroes, and was about to block herself when Weiss summoned a flock of birds to distract Blake. 

“Get to the missile now!”

Ruby nodded as she jumped over Blake and ran to the stairs. Before she could reach them, Blake used one of the ribbons wrapped around her arm to grab her leg. Blake smirked while her other hand continued to block the bites and scratches from the birds. Ruby looked to see Weiss still standing there. 

_That’s the limit, she can’t move when she uses her quirk._

Blake started to reel Ruby to her. Her ribbon seemed alive. Like Eraserhead’s.

_Huh, so that’s the kind of hero she likes… I’m onto you Blake._

“Stupid bird!” Blake’s composure broke as one of the birds hit her eye. Weiss had moved one of her fingers, and it was glowing with those same rings. 

_So cool, she can control them!_

“Ruby, go, we need to find the missile.” 

Ruby’s eyes widened. Weiss called by her given name, she was looking at her with hope. She smiled brightly and pulled the ribbon with all her might. It snapped and she was free. 

She put her hood over her head and melded her body with the cloak. She felt herself fade and then she was a pure energy. 

Rose petals came to her vision, and in that moment, she saw her mother. 

_I will become a hero!_

She burst out of the hall at high speed, destroying the ceiling easily. Yang was right above her, and Ruby hit hard with force.

Yang was surprised by the attack, but welcomed it as she watched her turn around midair. Ruby thought she broke her bones, but the blonde’s hair was brighter than before and her eyes were red like fire. 

_She activated her quirk the moment she heard the noise!_

“Hundred percent,” She heard Yang cry out. A charged fist collided with her cheek. She was punched right back down to where Weiss and Blake were. 

“Gah!”

She hit the ground but she was still a burst of petals. Yang fell from the hole and Ruby moved before her sister landed on top of her. Yang stood on her feet and seemed okay. Her quirk was activated again, burning up her arms and legs. 

“Not bad, you almost got me there.” Yang’s smile seemed strained. 

“Yang?” Who’s watching the missile?” That was Blake. 

“Shit.”

Ruby smiled. “Checkmate.” 

She jumped. 

With all of her speed, Ruby reached the top and tapped the missile.

“HEROES WIN!” All Might said through the intercoms. 

Ruby, still in her cloak form, began to rearrange and let out a groan each time she felt a bone misplaced. A broken arm and leg, not bad. 

She was about to fall when she felt a pair of hands catch her. She didn’t bother to care who it was. She just closed her eyes. 


	4. After School Motorcycle Rides

Yang winced and waited with the rest of Class 1-A. The other matches went by fast, and none of them were as exciting as the first one and the ones with Todoroki and Nikos. She did get a lot of attention when her and Blake returned. They got a lot of praise, even All Might himself told her she did well. 

_Especially regarding my emotions… that’s hardly a problem. Ruby is strong just like all of us._

Speaking of Ruby, she was taken to Recovery Girl and Schnee decided to stay with her. That is, until she returned with a scowl on her face. 

_Maybe that girl isn’t that bad._

After all, Schnee was friends with Yaoyorozu. How those two knew each other was still a mystery, but she could tell Weiss was feeling better as she quietly stood next to the taller girl. 

She turned her head to Blake, who had managed to not even use her quirk in the fight. Yang had to admit, she was strong, just like in the entrance exam. She honestly thought Blake was kind of a loner, but she turned out to be the most cooperative partner. Sure, they weren’t in complete sync. If they were, they would’ve won. 

“You did wonderfully today, and the only major injuries that occurred were Midoriya and Rose’s!” 

“It’s nice to hear some positivity after what happened in homeroom class. Aizawa-sensei was quite a buzz kill with his trick.”

Yang snorted. What Aizawa-sensei did was pretty hilarious. It was funny how people could get so emotional about the smallest things. Sometimes Yang pitied people who don’t understand what it meant to really lose something. 

She watched All Might make his grand exit and sighed at everyone gawking at his speed. Had they forgotten about Iida, Ruby and Blake? She wondered just how overpowered she and her sister truly were. No one knows that they are a pair of pro-hero children. though neither of them wanted it to be known. It was a secret only between them, and always would be. 

Yang rolled her arms and walked with the rest of the girls to the locker room. She had already begun to remove her bomber jacket while stretching. Her quirk could overheat her skin and the jacket was regulatory so it could usually keep her cool. Right now, it was sticking to her like a second skin and she just wanted a shower. 

She let her eyes wander to a wall beside the lockers and let out a sigh of relief to see that it was still plugged up. When they were in there earlier, Yang and Blake managed to find a hole in the wall after everyone left. They plugged it with some cardboard and used masking tape to keep it still. Yang remembered how the boys used to peep in the girl’s locker room in her old school. She had way too much experience with this stuff. 

_It really is a curse that I’m so hot._

She went to her locker and stopped when she felt eyes on her. It was Kyouka. Her eyes were unreadable. 

“We still need to talk. Are you going to visit Ruby later today?”

“I was kind of hoping you’d forget… and yeah I am, um, want to come?”

“Sure.”

The two got dressed in silence. Yang wanted to say something, anything. She closed her eyes as she slipped on her blazer and then felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to the other side of her and found Blake looking at her with concern. 

“Take it easy, okay?”

“Yeah right! I never take things easy.”

“That’s why I said that, Yang. I’ll see you in class!”

“See ya!”

Blake walked out alone, distant, all of a sudden. Yang felt her and Blake were friends, but she just seems so secretive. Yang knew she was also hiding things, but maybe one day she could actually talk to someone about her own issues for once. 

“You ready?”

Yang looked down to see Kyouka lean on her locker. She was tapping her jacks together and seemed unsure of herself. That was unusual. 

“Yeah, just let me get my bag.”

She pulled out her book bag and slung it over her shoulder. Her body was no longer in excruciating pain like earlier, but she still had to walk slowly or she’d stumble. 

The two walked in sync. Due to Yang’s slower pace, Kyouka was able to stay by her side. She peered and noticed one of Kyouka’s jacks was plugged into her phone. Curious, Yang leaned in to see what she was listening to. 

“Oh, cool! You like Pink Floyd too?” She asked.

Kyouka jumped a little and pulled out her jack. “You have got to stop doing that. You know Pink Floyd?” 

“Yeah, I listen to it while I train. That and stuff like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. David Bowie’s cool. Honestly, I’ve liked music since I was young. Even made my own guitar once.” 

This was nice. Yang could finally talk about something other than heroes, homework, and classes. She liked the school, and definitely wanted to save people, but being a hero wasn’t the only reason she came here. She wanted the thrill of a battle. This was more a hobby, in a way, than a real passion. Something Yang knows won’t cut it if she keeps it up. 

“Oh, you listen to David Bowie too! I loved Ziggy Stardust. I played it on my speakers for hours in my room.”

“I haven’t listened to that one yet. I only started listening to him because of Hunky Dory.”

“That’s a good one too! You have rockin’ taste.”

Yang blushed. She wasn’t one to blush a lot, but the way Kyouka’s eyes sparkled as she stared up with a big smile was different. She hadn’t seen her smile that wide before. She laughed a bit, sometimes hysterically due to Kaminari’s shortcomings. However, this one was special. It was brighter, like this subject was one that made her happy.

The two continued to talk and walk down the hallway to their next class. Yang was feeling better. She needed to talk about something that wasn’t related to her family and music was always a great escape. 

“Okay, enough of that, what happened earlier in class, before All Might came in? Your heart rate was beating way too loudly for my ears to take.”

“I didn't know you could hear someone’s heartbeat…”

Kyouka looked at her with an amused expression and poked her cheek with a jack.

“Don’t change the subject Xiao Long.”

Yang sighed and looked away as they finally stood by the door to their classroom. She contemplated if she should even talk about it. 

_Not now, I’m not ready._

“I just, I don’t really like All Might that much? It's complicated. One of these days I’ll talk about it, and I promise I’ll control my heartbeat so it doesn’t blast in your ears.”

“Alright.”

Yang just stared at her in disbelief. She wasn’t going to pry, this was enough, it seemed. Yang was grateful Kyouka wasn’t going to push. 

“I understand, I keep secrets too, so I won’t make you until you’re ready to talk. If you want to, I’ll listen.”

Yang felt an uncontrollable urge to hug her. Instead, she placed her hand on Kyouka’s shoulder and squeezed. 

“Thank you.”

Kyouka gave her another soft smile and made her way into the class. Later today they would go visit Ruby. Maybe she could get Blake to come too. 

* * *

When Midoriya made it back to class, Kyouka watched Ashido, Kirishima, and some others bombard him with questions and compliments. She was talking to Tokoyami and Ojiro, while Yang was in the back with Nikos and Valkyrie. 

The rest of the afternoon classes were pretty boring and it was obvious everyone was waiting for both of their injured classmates to come back. The problem was that only one had opened the door. 

“Tokoyami, stop sitting on the desks! It’s disrespectful as they were sat by our upperclassmen!" 

Kyouka looked at Iida with disbelief. The guy was high energy and always a pain. He needed a dosage of Ren’s quirk stat. 

“Man, you really need to chill.”

Ojiro agreed next to her and as Iida was about to give her another earful of nonsense, Uraraka asked the number one question on everyone’s mind. 

“Hey, Deku, why didn’t Rose come back with you?”

Midoriya froze before he spoke quietly. Kyouka could hear both his and Yang’s heartbeat skyrocket. It pounded in her ears.

“S-She hasn’t woken up yet… but I’m sure she will soon!” 

He paused and looked at Bakugou’s empty desk. After, Uraraka explained what happened, Kyouka saw him leave immediately to catch the obnoxious guy. 

_I will never understand that relationship._

She grabbed her bag as more of her classmates began to leave. She turned to see Yang sitting on one of the back desks, lost in her thoughts. 

“Come on, we’re going to see your sister.”

“Right.” 

Kyouka really didn’t like what she saw. Yang looked somber. Her bond with Ruby must be really strong if she was that afraid for her sister’s life. It was awkward, but Yang was her friend and Kyouka wanted to be there for her. 

Yang slid her bag over her shoulder and the two made their way to Recovery Girl’s office. 

It was an awkward walk, both were silent as she tried to think of a way to help Yang distract herself. Music came to mind, but Kyouka didn’t want to talk about it all the time. She sighed and looked down at her phone to swipe through her library for some good bands.

“You know, she used to always get injured when she was younger. That quirk was a hazard. The first time it activated was when she was asleep.”

Kyouka continued to listen but stayed quiet. If Yang wanted to talk about something, she wasn’t going to stop her. 

“She wasn’t a handful though. Ruby was a good kid growing up, one day I knew she was going to make it here. I just didn’t think it would be this soon.”

Kyouka nodded her head. Afraid to say anything, she reached up to Yang and patted her back.

“Sorry, I just- I want her to be okay.”

“I know.”

They stood there for a moment before they continued walking. They talked about the homework assignments and favorite bands. Kyouka recommended Deep Dope and even promised Yang she’d give her a mixtape. 

“It's a good band to listen to when you just want to smash stuff. The drummer is sick.”

“I do like a good beat. I’ll definitely check them out, but I’m still holding out for that mixtape.”

“I’ll give it to you tomorrow, you won’t be disappointed!"

The two laughed before they finally made it to Recovery Girl’s office. Kyouka's ears perked as she heard quiet voices speaking. She grabbed Yang’s arm and looked at her to stop. The blonde seemed confused, but Kyouka moved one of her jacks to the wall beside the door. 

“What are you doing?”

“They’re talking about Ruby, don’t you want to know her condition?”

“Yeah I do.”

Kyouka plugged her jack into the wall and concentrated on the voices. One was a Recovery girl but the other was a deeper voice. It almost sounded like All Might. 

_What is All Might doing in there?_

“So?”

“Recovery Girl wants her to stay overnight, she’s even willing to stay with her. Something about her bones being different than the other students’.”

“Overni-”

“If you two ladies would stop eavesdropping and please come inside that would be preferable.”

Kyouka jumped as she pulled her jack out of the wall. They both looked up to see the blue eyes of a man with blonde hair. He seemed sick. She gulped and glanced up at Yang who only looked on the verge of exploding.

“What do you mean she has to stay overnight!? What’s wrong with Ruby?”

“I can assure you that she is fine. Her bone structure is just a lot more unstable than the rest of the students. She needs to take a certain treatment to stabilize them before Recovery Girl can help.”

“You don’t think I know that? I live with her, I know about her bones.”

Kyouka was amazed at how the girl could be calm and friendly in one second then fierce and ready to fight in the next. Yang was clenching her fists and her teeth grinded against one another. Thankfully, Recovery Girl stepped out. She looked absolutely done for the day.

“Xiao Long, I will be watching her all night. I can promise you Ruby will be fine in the morning. Her bones may be difficult, but they are a lot easier for me to heal.”

“I’ll come early with her uniform.”

“I will see you then.”

Yang bowed and thanked Recovery Girl. This was the third time today Kyouka saw Yang doing something very out of character. Not that it was a bad thing.

When they got out of the building the sun had already set. Kyouka panicked, she was supposed to be home thirty minutes ago. 

“Need a ride?” Yang suddenly asked. 

“Huh?”

The response she got was a red helmet thrown into her hands. She looked up to see Yang leaning on the front of her bike, her expression neutral. Kyouka held the helmet tightly and thought to herself. 

_I really don’t want to take the train at this hour._

She made her way over to Yang and wordlessly put the helmet over her head. She felt her own heart beat against her chest the moment she sat down. 

“You can hold my waist, ya know? This is your first time on a motorcycle, right?”

“How long have you had this thing?” 

“Since last year! My birthday is in the end of July.”

Kyouka thought to herself as she nervously wrapped her arms around the taller girl. She leaned her head on Yang’s back as she heard the revving of the bike. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be eighteen to get a license?”

“Heh. I got special permission because of an accident on the train. My uncle pulled some strings. Perks of being a pro-hero, I guess.”

“Your uncle is a pro-hero? What’s his hero name?” 

“Omen.”

Kyouka's eyes widened as she lifted her head up just as they got to the streets. 

“Wait, hold up! Are you telling me that your uncle is the number ten hero in Japan?!” 

“Yeah… shit, don’t tell anyone, he really hates the press.”

To say she was impressed was an understatement. Kyouka had a feeling the sisters were more than meets the eye. Especially during the physical exam, with both of them hitting the top 10 easily. Then the battle trials happened and they literally almost destroyed the building. She wondered if Omen had trained the two. Or maybe he wasn’t the only hero Yang knew. 

_Not to mention, Omen is literally one of my favorite heroes… his vibe is so rockin’._

“If you want you can meet him someday, I don’t think he’d mind. We are… friends after all?” Yang said with a little hesitation before changing the subject completely. “By the way, you gonna tell me how to get to your place or not?”

Kyouka’s grip on Yang’s waist tightened as she turned her head to the side. 

_Shit. Tell her where to go._

“Turn right,” she mumbled. 

Yang did at a street sign. She thought quietly as she saw the buildings pass. She lived pretty far from campus and she wondered how her parents were gonna react when she got home. She then remembered Yang’s question earlier about Omen. She still hadn't answered. 

“About the offer… If it’s okay, I would love to meet him.”

“Cool! He works at the school behind closed doors. We can meet him during lunch tomorrow!”

“He does!?”

“Yeah, it was the only way to convince my dad to allow us to even take the entrance exam. He’s there to watch over Ruby. No doubt he was in there before we were caught. I can’t believe we didn’t get detention for that. “

“Yang, it was after school.”

“Oh…”

Yang laughed out loud. Kyouka felt happy seeing her friend smile. It was way better than the frustration that radiated out of her when she argued with that sickly blonde man. 

She looked to the side and continued to tell Yang where to go. They stopped to get some food at the convenience store and so she could use google maps to find the right directions to her house. 

_I usually take the train to my station… and dad only drove me once for the exam. How the hell was I supposed to know I’d be riding on a motorcycle back home on the second day of school._

“You know where we’re going?”

“Uh…”

“Oh my god.”

“I’m never gonna live this down, am I?”

“Nope!”

Kyouka read the directions again before texting it to Yang’s phone. The two went back on the motorcycle for the rest of the way. Once they got to her ward, Kyouka at this point relaxed. The whole trip was an hour since they stopped at the convenience store. 

_Dad is gonna kill me. Shit, I didn’t call them._

As they pulled up to the driveway Yang pulled the break and pushed the kickstand down. She got up and turned to help Kyouka off the huge thing. Kyouka removed the red helmet and Yang took it from her hands. Yang pulled back and gave out a chuckle as she looked up at the sky. 

“Sorry for taking too long, if I was allowed, I would have driven faster.”

“It's fine, I’ll just tell them that I was at the mall.”

“Thanks, it was nice talking to someone, just about things that aren’t school related. You're a really cool person, Kyouka.” 

Kyouka felt her cheeks heat up and she quickly turned around to hide them. She tapped her jacks together.

“Yeah, well talking about school can be a drag, so I just thought it wasn’t appropriate at this point. You know?”

“Yeah. Anyway, see you tomorrow!”

“Yeah.”

Kyouka felt she should hug her, but she remembered they just started school and they just started their friendship. They were still learning about each other, and she wasn’t Ashido who didn’t get boundaries. She sighed as she heard the rev of the machine as she got to her door. Yang still seemed sad, she should have done something, but she was too scared.

_Maybe another time._

She opened the door to face the music with her parents. She could already picture her dad’s overprotective father face. It was going to be a long night, but it was okay. 


	5. Reps and Alarms

Another sunny day beamed down upon the U.A campus as Momo waited patiently outside of the gate. She was there early as usual, her chauffeur had just dropped her off. She had left early with Weiss yesterday since Weiss didn’t feel like facing Rose. Fortunately, they had a group chat with Pyrrha and were informed of the unfortunate news of Rose’s condition. Midoriya got to go home, Rose had to stay overnight. It was unusual to say the least. Recovery Girl wasn’t known for keeping students overnight no matter what the injury. 

Nevertheless, Momo was up working on her homework assignment when Weiss called her. Weiss sounded weaker than usual, the battle trials must have taken a toll on her more than Momo thought. She should know, she watched the battle on screen. 

_Rose’s quirk- I can’t even describe it. Weiss asked me if I saw it before, but I haven’t. I wonder who Rose’s parents are… because that kind of quirk doesn’t come out of nowhere._

She sighed softly. It had annoyed her a tad that Weiss called the girl by her given name, though unlike her, Weiss was more unconventional. Her mother, after all, was German and Weiss was taught both customs. On the western side of the world, calling someone by their given name was casual.

_At least I think they do that in Germany?_

Momo lifted her arm and tapped her foot impatiently. Usually she wasn’t this restless, but Weiss was late, which wasn’t like her at all. 

_Where is she?_

Just as she was about to turn around to get to class, she heard light footsteps. Momo turned around to see Weiss running from her chauffeur, looking rather disheveled. Was the battle really getting to her? What on earth happened in that building? 

“You're late.” She stated.

“Sorry.” Weiss muttered. 

“I won’t ask, let's just get to class.” She sighed as she looked ahead of them. 

Weiss straightened herself up and smooth out her clothing. Her white hair was up in its usual side ponytail, albeit slightly messier. Weiss started to do that when they were eleven as a way to rebel against her father. Momo knew some things about Jacques Schnee, most of them she’d rather not think about. Weiss usually tried to keep her in the dark since they were family issues, but Momo wasn’t dumb. She knew her father wasn’t the kindest man. 

She watched closely as Weiss redid her hair. She was the shortest girl after Asui and yet she still managed to get seventh place in the Quirk Apprehension Test. Weiss was still upset about that and kept it to herself. Momo knew her friend hated to show weakness. In a way, Weiss and that boy Bakugou were incredibly similar when it came to their pride, but Weiss knew when to swallow it.

_Her father really is a piece of work._

Momo let her eyes go to Weiss’ face and she frowned as she caught the straight line that went down her right eye to her cheek. Weiss had that when she arrived for the recommendation exam last year. Momo was of course worried, but Weiss told her it was fine. Her excuse was absurd.

_Weiss’ hates cats, so why would she try to pet one?_

Ice blue eyes met her obsidian ones and both narrowed.

_It has to be him. I’ve seen her other scars. Why won’t she tell me?_

“What?” Weiss asked annoyed.

“Nothing, do you need any help?” Momo asked and raised a brow. 

Weiss, who still had the pins in her mouth, frowned. Between the two of them Momo, was a lot more keen at doing hair. Weiss usually had her maids help her. Occasionally Momo would do her hair when she had permission. 

“...Yes.”

“Then shall we go to the bathroom first?” Momo suggested. 

Weiss let go of her hair and it fell down like a waterfall. Some of the bangs covered her face, the rest curled a bit at the edge. She looked rather stunning as the sun hit her back. Momo mustered up a warm smile and grabbed Weiss’ wrist. She guided the girl to one of U.A’s girls bathrooms and peeked inside to see if anyone else was there. 

_It doesn’t seem so, good. Then we can actually talk._

She looked down at her own wrist and checked the time. They still had thirty minutes left before class started. Momo was always an early riser and most of the time so was Weiss.

_When she actually goes to sleep early._

With a pull, Weiss came into the bathroom right after Momo and they made their way to the mirrors. She lifted her hand for the pins and Weiss plucked them from her mouth. If it had been anyone else, this would be rather gross, but she and Weiss were childhood friends, they had been close since they were four. 

She pulled up the hair and hummed softly as she redid the up-do. Weiss continued to stare at the mirror with emotionless eyes. Ever since her ninth birthday Weiss had made it her personal standard to always maintain an icy exterior.

_That was when she started to change. When she got her first scar on her back._

Weiss told her about how Jacques got angry and hurt her during a family dinner. He was mad about the White Fang, a peaceful organization turned cult. Momo had done as much research as she could about the cult, had only found the leader's name and many of the rumors that involved faunus children. It astounded her that pro-heroes hadn’t caught him yet. 

_Then again, faunus were not always seen as equals._

Momo shook her head. She needed to focus on helping her friend. She held Weiss’ hair and first tied it up into a straight ponytail before tilting it to the side. She held the pins in her own mouth unconsciously and plucked them out so she could insert them through the top part of the tie. She followed suit with the other pins before she stepped back to admire her work. 

“There!” Momo said with pride. 

“Thank you Momo, as always your perfectionism is top notch.” Weiss said sarcastically.

Weiss looked at her from the mirror and Momo saw a small grin on her face. She rolled her eyes and patted Weiss’ head in a mildly insulting way. 

“Save that attitude for the rest of the class.”

“I don’t need your permission, and you know I hate it when you do that,” Weiss complained and started to smooth her hair. 

“It’s why I did it, now let's go,” Momo said with a smile. “Neither of us want to be late.”

Weiss’ slight scowl went back to a neutral expression as she grabbed her bag. She continued to smooth the crown of her head to neaten the mess Momo caused. 

_And she calls me a perfectionist._

Momo decided that they would talk about Rose later. Right now both of them needed to be focused. It was a new day and they had a long way to go to become successful heroes. She looked down at her watch and smiled as they made it to their class. They were still rather early. 

When they stepped inside, Momo saw Rose and her sister leaning on desks and talking among themselves. Rose’s bones were no longer broken, but she did have a band-aid on her cheek. She was small compared to her sister. Xiao Long looked happy and calm, smiling at the girl as if she was the most precious person in the world. 

Momo never had siblings. Cousins of course, as her family line was rather vast, but not a big brother or sister. She felt jealousy bubble up in her as she watched the two. Rose was very lucky to have a sister like Xiao Long. They both were lucky to have each other. 

She let her eyes go to Weiss and could tell she was thinking the same thing. Weiss had siblings, one obnoxious little brother who seemed to be like a clone of her father, and her older sister, Winter. 

Momo met Winter once when she was a child. Winter was very intimidating even as a teenager. Momo would never want to cross her, especially now that she was a pro-hero at one of the top agencies in Akira City. 

She placed her hand on Weiss’ shoulder and guided her to their seats. Neither of them wanted to disturb the sisters. 

* * *

  
  


Thus far, it was a very hectic day for class 1-A as each student came in frazzled about the press outside. Yang wasn’t one of them. She came to school when it was just opening with Uncle Qrow, who was waiting for her by the gate with his own motorcycle. The two exchanged casualties and made their way to Ruby. She informed him about meeting Kyouka during lunch, which he replied with a distasteful quip. 

_Why is my family such a mess?_

Ruby had gone over to her new friends so Yang was left to herself and that usually came with her overthinking. Thankfully, an object hit her head and she lifted herself off her desk to soothe the pain. She was met with the mischievous eyes of Kyouka who held a CD between her fingers. 

“You shouldn’t be sleeping in class.” She said playfully.

“Morning to you too.” Yang grumbled. 

“Shut up and take this," Kyouka muttered and pushed the mix-tape towards her. " I made it last night. I didn’t think the old one would be good enough since it didn’t have the new songs or bands.”

Yang rolled her eyes and reached out to take the disk from Kyouka's hand. She read the title of it and snorted. 

“Bad Influence?” She asked. 

“I got into trouble because of you,” Kyouka said and crossed her arms.

Yang frowned and looked away. “Sorr---ow!”

Kyouka had flicked her finger on Yang’s forehead to stop her from apologizing before she pulled back to give her a small smile. “You didn’t do anything wrong, he’s just an overprotective old man. You know how they are?”

“I know how most can be.” Yang chuckled. 

Kyouka rolled her eyes and Yang let her own gaze drift to the person who had just sat next to her. A smile played on her lips once she recognized that unmistakable bow. Blake left early yesterday saying something about some errands she had to do. She didn’t seem to look annoyed or tired like the rest of the class who passed the press. 

“Hey Blake! Did you get stopped by the press? I hear they’re pretty crazy out there!” Yang asked curiously.

“No not really. I used one of my traces as a distraction, so they didn’t catch me.” Blake replied as she took out another book from her backpack. 

Yang could only laugh. Blake always knew what to do in tough situations. She was a quick witted fighter and quite the opposite of Yang who planned her attacks then acted recklessly throughout the battle. It even happened when Yang merely talked to people, like how she planed to thank Kyouka for the mix-tape she made for her.

_Shit, I really should do that right now!_

With that thought in mind Yang turned her head to the girl and smiled brightly at her. Kyouka who was busy pulling out her notebook was taken aback by Yang’s gesture and started to curl one of her earphone jacks like a lock of hair. Yang didn't understand why she was suddenly nervous but nevertheless she ignore it. 

"What?" Kyouka asked coolly. 

“I just wanted to say thanks again for this!" Yang said and waved the disk in her hand. "I’ll definitely give it a listen, and of course keep it safe since you made it!”

Kyouka looked away and muttered something incoherent before she sat back down and turned to Kaminari, who wanted to show her something. 

A squeal came from the other side of the room. “Ruby, you’re back! Oh my god, you were so awesome out there yesterday! I love your quirk!” 

Yang turned her attention to her sister who before, had been talking quietly to Midoriya and was now suddenly in a bear hug from one Mina Ashido. 

“Too tight, Mina, too tight!” Ruby complained.

“Oh sorry!” Mina apologized.

Yang got up from her desk and walked over to Mina. She noticed there were more people here than before. Tsuyu was standing next to Midoriya while she got Mina to stop hugging Ruby, who looked a little uncomfortable. 

Right next to Mina was Kirishima, who was also complimenting Ruby about the training yesterday. It surprised Yang so much how kind her classmates were. So far they were one of the most considerate and caring people she'd ever met. 

_Just three days and I’m this attached?_

Just as she was about to say something the door opened and everyone ran to their seats. Aizawa-sensei walked into class with the same look of apathy on his face. He sighed and then looked at everyone. 

“Well at least you managed to get seven seconds this time.” He said with no humor at all.

His eyes scanned the room and they landed on both Ruby and Midoriya. Then his eyes shifted to Bakugou and Yang herself. 

“Decent work on yesterday's combat training you all. I’ve seen the videos and went over all the team's results.” Aizawa-sensei said with a small smile. 

Yang sighed when he started to lecture Bakugou. She had to admit he was very talented but extremely childish. He let his emotions take control of his actions and it nearly cost Midoriya his life. Speaking of Midoriya, he was the next target of Aizawa-sensei's blunt words. She knew he was a powerful guy, but it was weird that he too had a quirk that screwed up his body like Ruby’s. 

_He and Ruby should train together to control both of those quirks. They could be an unstoppable team._

“Xiao Long.” Aizawa-sensei called out.

Yang's eyes widened when she heard her name and sat up straighter in her desk. 

“You did very well to control your quirk from destroying the whole building, but words of advice." Aizawa-sensei said sternly. "Don’t use your most powerful attack. Your hundred percent charge is very powerful, and should be a last resort. Try to use less of it next time and don’t tell me you can't. I know from watching you can control your quirk.”

Yang nodded her head. He was right she did go overboard on that attack but had he seen Ruby? If Yang hadn’t given it her all Ruby would have bounced back mid flight and destroyed her. 

_Then again, even Taiyang told me to dial it back._

“Rose. The way you lured Xiao Long down to where you were was tactically good but your quirk is one of the most dangerous in our class. Not only for your peers but for yourself." AIzawa-sensei said as he stared at Ruby. "You need to work harder like Midoriya and excel in biology so that you know where to put your bones when you regroup your body.”

Yang watched Ruby pouted and nod her head. Ruby loved most science, but she hated biology. It was going to be a tough battle to get her to listen, but maybe Aizawa-sensei's words would make her pay attention when they were studying. 

“Alright. Now that's over, let's get down to business,” Aizawa-sensei said. “Our first task will decide your future.”

Yang clenched her pencil. If it was another quirk test, she was ready. 

“You all need to pick a class representative.” He finished and zipped up his sleeping bag. 

The whole class erupted in chaos and Yang didn’t understand. Usually being the class rep was boring. She never wanted to be one but when she saw Ruby raise her hand excitedly, she hung her head. Her sister would never be cool. 

_Well at least I know who I’m gonna vote for._

Blake didn’t raise her hand. In fact, she looked bored and was already reading another book. 

_Just how many books are in her bag!?_

While Yang was losing her mind, Iida finally calmed everyone down. Well, in his Iida way. Yang sighed after he stopped talking. 

_This is gonna be a war, if everyone ends up voting for themselves. What was Iida thinking?_

* * *

Ruby stood next to Midoriya, Momo and Pyrrha while Weiss glared. Apparently there was a tie for both first place and second place. 

“So you can’t even decide on a representative?" Aizawa-sensei sighed in his sleeping bag. "At this rate I might as well put all four of you together but since it can’t be that way. The rest of you will vote again, but only for the top four.”

“ALRIGHT, WHO VOTED FOR DEKU!” Bakugou yelled. 

Weiss rolled her eyes. She was more concerned as to exactly who her one vote was from. Sure, she was an overachiever but other people deserve the role. She let her eyes drift to Momo and gave her a small smile before turning to Iida. He looked very disappointed at the results. 

_That’s his own fault for always behaving like he owns the place._ _  
  
_

She was given a paper and she wrote down the same name before getting up and throwing it into the box. Afterwards everyone else made their way to the front desk and put their paper in. The clock ticked and it was almost time for English.

_This is such a waste of time._

After the count, the results were in again. Midoriya had the most, then Momo. 

Weiss frowned. She could see Momo was disappointed. A lot of things weren’t going the way her friend had wanted since they arrived. From her disaster of a costume to placing second place in the physical test. Momo wasn’t used to being number two. Weiss felt awful, she had completely been neglecting one of her best friends. She had been selfish while only thinking about her own failure. That she never once thought about how Momo felt about her own shortcomings. She had been rather cold and distant with her since they started U.A even when they talked to each other, it was usually only centered around her. 

_All for my pride…_

  
  
There was one thing she learned when she worked with Ruby and that was to always pay attention to the person you work with or are friends with. 

_I’ve been a terrible friend. I should be more honest and open with Momo. I don’t want to lose her._

The classroom bell rang, and Weiss along with everyone got ready for English with Present Mic. 

* * *

  
  


Math was finally over and Kyouka hung her head to her desk. Math was her worst subject and she wasn’t going to even try to deny it. She looked down at her notes and sighed to herself. At this rate, she was gonna hit Ashido’s score in this subject. 

“What are you sulking for? It's lunch time,” Yang asked as she stood in front of her desk. 

“Not everyone is a little miss sunshine like you, Xiao Long.” Kyouka grumbled.

“Aww, I thought we were on first name terms!" Yang pouted. 

“Don’t make me jab you.” Kyouka warned tiredly. 

She heard laughter coming from Yang and bit her own lip to stop the smile she could feel forming. She was supposed to be annoyed, not enjoying the banter. 

“Please, my quirk will just absorb it. It's like a beast, anytime I get attacked it activates.” Yang scoffed.

“You say that like it's a bad thing?” She questioned

“It's how I got banned from taking the train.” Yang confessed quietly.

Kyouka's jaw dropped and then she started to shake. She covered her mouth and snorted as she pictured the scenario. It was the funniest thing she had heard in a while. 

“I- oh my god.”

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up, Ruby had the same reaction when I was dragged home. That was when I really couldn’t control my quirk well enough.” Yang groaned.

Kyouka quieted, she lifted herself from the desk and looked around to see that they were the only students left in class. 

“Where’s Ashido and Belladonna?” She questioned. 

“Lunch.” Yang shrugged as she continued to smile at her. 

“Shouldn’t we go meet up with them?” Kyouka asked and tilted her head. 

  
  
“Nope! You’re coming with me to the teachers office.” Yang chuckled.

Kyouka was about to ask why but then remembered last night and the motorcycle ride. She quickly got up and pulled her blazer back on. Yang was already at the door with her hands behind her head and her blazer around her waist. 

The two made their way to the office, talking about the assignments given in class and the battles yesterday. Kyouka was still amazed at Yang and Ruby’s quirks. 

“I honestly thought she was about to break your bones after that hit, it looked like a pretty nasty blow.” She admitted.

“Yeah well when you train with someone that can hit you like a freight train you tend to get used to it." Yang shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong she did a lot of damage, but it only makes me feel achy in the end.”

“Who trained you two?” Kyouka asked. She had her suspicions but wanted to know. 

“Well one of them is Uncle Qrow,” Yang began as she put her hands behind her head. “You know his quirk is Misfortune, right? Well he has a really hard training regime, it’s not fun. It results in a lot of bad luck happening within the area and the people who are sparring in it or doing rescue trials have to go through lots of shit.”

“Damn, I didn’t know you guys were trained that hard but that makes sense --Wait why didn’t you guys go for the recommendation exam?” Kyouka asked. 

_They both would have passed easily given their experience._

“Ruby was only asked to take the entrance exam because the deadline for the recommendation exam passed months ago. I wasn’t really planning to go here, I was into other stuff.” Yang answered casually.

Kyouka nodded her head as she continued to talk to Yang. She was such a cool person, and really interesting to talk to. Way more interesting than some of the other students. When they finally made it to the door of the teachers office Kyouka felt her heart pound. This was the first time she was meeting a pro-hero that wasn’t one of her teachers, let alone Omen. 

“Don’t be nervous, he can look intimidating but he’s really chill.” Yang assured her.

“You wish I was nervous.” She replied sarcastically.

Kyouka punched Yang’s arm hard and they went through the door. The two laughed before straightening up. They looked around the empty room looking for the man. 

“Ruby is that you?” A gruff voice came from the back of the room.

“It’s Yang, Uncle Qrow. Ruby is at lunch.” Yang called quietly.

“Oh-oh right right, you told me you were coming to see me?” He asked.

Yang rolled her eyes but smiled and Kyouka saw a man walk over from one of the teachers' desks. He wasn’t wearing his hero costume. Instead he had a pair or black simple pants and a grey button up. He had a weird necklace around his neck and many rings. 

“So this is the girl, right Firecracker?” Omen said as he looked at Yang with a small grin.

“Firecracker?” Kyouka questioned and furrowed her brows at Yang. 

“He used to call me that when I was a kid,” She said in her defense.

“I still do." Omen teased. "She sure was fired up as a kid. Ready to fight no matter where she was.” 

Yang groaned and slapped her palm to her forehead, cheeks red with embarrassment. Kyouka covered her mouth and giggled to herself before she looked back up at Omen to introduce herself. 

“I’m Kyouka Jirou. It's an honor to meet you sir!” She said and bowed to show her respect. 

“You don’t have to be so formal.” He shrugged. 

“Oh. Cool.” Kyouka muttered and scratched her neck. 

“Cool, so are you enjoying U.A.?" Omen asked with a small smile on his face. "I used to go here, you know.” 

Kyouka nodded, she knew that Omen graduated from U.A. “So far yeah, even though it's just the third day.” 

Omen nodded his head. He was really tall and she had to look up in order to meet his eyes. They burned with the same fire as Yang’s did when she used her quirk. It was hard not to forget that. It was so surreal to watch. 

“Good, good. It's only gonna get harder though, so I hope both of you are devoted to this path. Being a hero is a lot of work, but it's worth it to keep people safe and happy.” He said seriously.

Kyouka smiled. Omen really was a genuine hero. He didn’t do it for competition or fame. He truly believed what he was doing was good.

_Just like All Might._

Omen looked at Yang and then patted her head until Yang pushed his arm away. Everything was calm and then the school sirens went off. All three of them looked at each other before Omen told them to get to their class safely. He would see what was going on. 

* * *

Mina stood next to Ruby, staring at Iida, who was on top of the exit door of the school. If this was another situation she would have laughed, but it wasn’t and she had to remain calm for her friends. Mina felt Hagakure bump into her and turned around to see her with Tsuyu as well. She didn’t know where Belladonna went, but remembered overhearing her comment earlier about sneaking past the press, she’d probably found an exit already. 

_That or she went back homeroom early._

“LISTEN UP, EVERYTHING IS OKAY! IT'S JUST THE MEDIA OUTSIDE. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. EVERYTHING IS FINE. WE ARE U.A STUDENTS WE NEED TO REMAIN CALM AND PROVE WE ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST!”

Mina had to admit, despite being uptight all the time, Iida was a very reliable guy. She felt calmer now. She looked to Ruby who was grinning wide. Eijirou and Kaminari looked like they were okay too.

“Look, the police just arrived!” Somebody said. 

_Well that was fun…_

Calmly now, Mina and Ruby made their way to Kaminari and Eijirou. Kaminari smiled at her while Ejirou gave her a fist bump. 

“So I’m guessing you guys are ok?” She asked. 

“Yeah, we’re fine. We weren’t afraid at all!” Kaminari said and gave a thumbs up. 

“Uh-huh, okay.” She said sarcastically. She didn't believe that from what she saw. 

Tsuyu and Hagakure made their way over to the small group and they all chatted together on the way to their next class, about Iida. Some said how funny he looked while others thought he did a good job calming everyone down. Mina talked about both. 

_His quirk is really cool too!_

When they made it to homeroom Mina saw Yang and Jirou run towards them. 

“We heard the alarm, what happened?” Jirou asked. 

“It’s a false alarm- wait why were you two not at lunch?” She questioned.

They both looked at each other and then back at her. Mina felt she was out of the loop at the moment. Those two had been doing their own thing lately.

“I asked her some math questions since I had trouble following Ectoplasm’s lecture today. We were in the library.” Jirou answered smoothly.

“Ohhh, smart.” Mina muttered. She should have gone with them since she too had trouble following the lecture in class today.

“If you want, I can help you with it tomorrow during lunch?” Yang offered.

“Really? Thank you! You’re the best Yang! ” She cheered.

“Yeah, I know!” Yang smirked.

Mina smiled at her as Jirou rolled her eyes and headed into class where the rest of the guys went. 

* * *

Momo and Midoriya both stood at the front of the room. Midoriya was shaking while Momo stood still. She kept her back straight and hands to her side. The chaos that ensued earlier was quite the spectacle. Iida managed to calm everyone down, and even though he looked ridiculous in that position, he still did a good job. 

“I know we’re supposed to announce student officers," Midoriya said nervously. "but I thought long and hard about it and I decided to step down because I believe Iida should be our class representative.” 

Momo felt as if time stood still as everyone slowly began to agree and cheer for Iida. It was quite unfair that she had to play second fiddle again. She had the second highest votes, surely she should have been automatically picked as Class Representative after Midoriya stepped down.

Aizawa who was still in the sleeping bag suddenly spoke up. “This is a waste of time, I don’t care who the rep is. Just hurry up.“ 

As soon as he said that he went back to sleep, his words leaving Momo's reasoning shattered. 

_It’s not fair. I had the second highest votes!_

Momo wasn’t selfish, she just wished something would go right in this school for her. Three days and she had still proved nothing. Todoroki and Pyrrha had their time to shine during the combat training. Midoriya, Xiao Long, and Rose proved to have incredibly powerful quirks. All she could do was create while it took more time with bigger objects. 

When Iida came to stand beside her, Momo felt small. She held her head high and stood proud next to him. She was happy to be the vice rep, it was still a very important job, and she would do her best. 

After a few more minutes of stating the new officers Momo made her way back to her seat. She closed her eyes briefly before taking out a pen and paper. Her intelligence is all she had at this point, and she was going to stay at the top. 

Momo felt two pairs of eyes on her and she glanced up to see Pyrrha and Weiss. It appeared that both could tell she was on edge and that only made her feel guilty. She gave them a smile and the three soon started to chat about tea and the next class. 

* * *

Qrow made his way to where the other teachers were. He was now in his hero costume and could already see Recovery Girl, Nerumi, Thirteen and Nezu at the destroyed gate. He looked down at his hand and wondered quietly if this was his doing. Ever since he started, bad luck had run amok within the U.A campus. 

_I can’t back down, I gotta stay for the girls._

He continued his long walk to the others and caught Nemuri's eye and scoffed. “I see that tall, dark and handsome has finally shown his face. “

“Nice to see you too Nemuri, now show some respect for your upperclassman.” He jeered. 

Nemuri scoffed and turned her attention back to Nezu. Qrow put his hands in his pockets and looked at the disastrous structure.

_There was no way the press could have done this they would've needed dynamite or some shit._

Nezu began to speak, he was ominous and somber. Qrow honestly wanted to leave but the principal wanted to speak with him personally later. 

“How on earth did the ordinary press manage to bypass our security systems?” Nezu questioned. “Someone else must have been behind this. Some villain must have actually been able to infiltrate our school, but was this a purely show of power, or a declaration of war?”

Qrow clenched his fist as Nezu finished speaking. He knew how to behave when he had to. The wind picked up. It was always a sign of no one else in the premises. It was one he hated. Qrow's quirk was a danger to most. For some reason he never had the ability to turn it off. It was a burden and one of the reasons he preferred to work alone. 

“So what do we do just stand here?” Qrow grumbled annoyed.

“Patience Omen, all will be resolved.” Nezu assured him. 

That wasn’t the answer he wanted. There could be a villain in this school right now and Nezu wanted them to be patient. Qrow knew he was here only because he promised Taiyang to keep his kids safe, but because of it he had to do nothing but paperwork. No crime fighting allowed. Nevertheless, there were villains out there that needed to be stopped and these teachers were doing nothing. 

“In the meantime I have a question?” Nezu said seriously as the other teachers started to leave. “Do you have any idea where your sister is?”

Qrow eyes widened at the question. He hadn’t seen her in a long while. He wondered why she was even being brought up.

“No, why?” He answered slowly.

“Come with me, there is something All Might and I would like to show you.” Nezu asked as he began to walk back into the building. 

Qrow in question blinked before turning to look at Thirteen and Nemuri, both looking grim. He had a bad feeling about what Nezu wanted to tell him. 

* * *

Blake walked out of her station as the sun set. With today’s nonsense over she could finally complete her investigation into what the White Fang was planning. She had a bad feeling that something big was going to happen, they’d been too quiet. There hadn’t been any robberies within any of the hero agencies as of late. 

She had applied for U.A because she wanted to fight for justice and the people. She wanted to bring equality between the faunus and humans. She thought briefly of Tsuyu and Tokoyami. Both of them were faunus. Tsuyu was an advanced type, born from two quirkless faunus’ carrying multiple attributes of her parent’s respective species. Blake wondered if she should approach her. Tsuyu was very observant and Blake would not be surprised if she had already figured out her secret. 

Then there were her other friends. Ashido, Jirou, Ruby and Yang. Blake stopped walking. She had become quite distant lately. Still kind, but she didn’t want them to get involved in this. She may be training to be a hero but she will always have the burden of her vigilance.

_I was so happy to learn our teacher was Eraserhead._

She looked up sharply when she heard people running to an alleyway. Carefully she looked around before she removed her bow slowly. Two ears perked up atop her head, they wiggled in their newfound freedom before she shook her head.

Blake went towards the alleyway and saw a narrow entrance. If she went in immediately they would see her uniform and attack. She frowned, finally having found the hideout but not knowing how to get in. 

_Come on Belladonna. Stop being a coward._

Her ears pressed down against her skull as she felt her courage disappear. She was about to leave when she sensed someone behind her. 

_Shit..._ _  
__  
_

She flipped out of a way as a cane narrowly missed her head. She landed on her feet with her body hunched forward to glare up at the eyes of a man with bright orange hair and a bowler cap on his head.

“Eavesdropping isn’t a very nice thing young lady. Hasn’t your mother ever told you that?” He asked with a fake smile plastered on his face. 

“Well considering my mom doesn’t know where I am. No, not really.” She replied uninterested. 

“Wise girl huh?" The guy growled. "Okay hero wannabe, you had your chance.”

He aimed the cane at her and she watched with horror as it opened up, a hard light laser now blinking at her chest. Blake leaped away from the shot that came afterwards before she felt the setting sun on her back. Her shadow appeared in front of her and she clenched her teeth. With her eyes narrowed she glared at the green eyes of the man before her.

“Nice attempt at fancy footwork kitty cat. Though, didn’t you know? Cats can’t dance.” He smirked. 

“What are you a Disney villain?” Blake couldn't help but asked. He was talking to her like some kind of Yakuza boss wannabe. 

“Why you!” He growled. 

Blake smirked and activated her quirk, a shadow went over her body and she used her speed to get to the other side. The man attacked the trace instead of her. He growled at his misfire as she perched herself on the lamppost. 

“Where are you kitty cat, where are you?” He bellowed as he he looked around the area with gritted teeth. 

Blake panted as she felt her shadow begin to fade. She usually had something on her when she fought.

_Unfortunately I don’t have my ribbons and it’s against the rules to carry knives in school._

“Gotcha bitch!” The man shouted triumphantly. 

That caused Blake to dodged another shot from the laser. A copy taking her place. Her legs suddenly twitched. A sign that if she made any more she’d be helpless.

Blake grit her teeth, the only way to get him away from her was to fight. She glared up at the redhead and charged. She went for a kick, but the bastard caught it and slammed her to the ground face first. Blood trickled down her nose and cheek as she got up. She charged him again, this time punching him straight in the gut before flipping backwards, landing a nice double kick on his chin.

His bowler hat fell off and he staggered, his cane flying through mid air. Blake ran and caught it, holding it like a bo-staff. She breathed heavily as she walked over to him and yanked him by his hair. 

“Why are you here?” Blake demanded. 

“Because I run this part of town kitty." The man said a he smiled deviously. "You see the White Fang got a lot bigger since you left, more faunus are getting angry at the way they’re treated. A lot of them come from quirkless families or families like yours you know?”

“What the hell is he planning?” She snarled and pulled the man's hair forcefully. 

“It’s not him kitty, it’s something much bigger." The redhead gloated. " Isn’t that right Neo?”

Blake's eyes widened as an umbrella was placed right against her neck. She choked as she was dragged off the man before being kicked to the ground. Blake landed on all fours, growling and rolling away to try and avoid another attack. She lifted herself up and staggered, blood running down her forehead. 

_I must look like a mess…_

“Dark Shadow.” A deep voice called near the entrance of the alleyway. 

Blake recognized that sound and saw a familiar quirk come her way. The giant claws pushed Neo and she crashed into the red-haired man as they fell to the ground. They both glared at the intruder. 

Fumikage came out of the shadows. His eyes were hard to distinguish as he made his way to Blake’s side. 

“Leave now.” He said calmly. 

“Oh great, now we have to deal with a bird?” The man whined, “Neo let's blow this place!”

Blake cried out and charged as she ignored Fumikage’s warning. She punched the red-haired man in the face but he and Neo shattered into glass. 

“W-What.” She gawked at the illusion. 

“One of them had a quirk.” Fumikage realized as the two crooks were nowhere in sight. 

Blake closed her eyes and put her fist down. She turned and walked to her bag that was on the ground and slung it over her body carefully. She winced as she touched her head. Fumikage just watched her calmly. He was never one to talk to much. 

“Who were they?” He asked suddenly.  
  


Blake stood there frozen. Fumikage hadn’t asked her any questions about her being a faunus. Since he found out they had made a habit of taking the train and walking home together. During these times she had told him bits and pieces about her past, but not enough to really answer his questions. 

“I don’t know, but they are now working with the White Fang, and if I don’t stop them." Blake answered angrily. "They will tarnish the name permanently.”

“I see.” He whispered softly. 

Blake turned around and looked at him with exhaustion. She then walked to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Fumikage was someone she could always rely on and Blake really appreciated all his help. 

“I’ll be fine, thanks for the save.” She assured him softly. 

“I’m a hero. I would have done that for anyone.” Fumikage said stubbornly, but Blake knew he would do it especially for his friends. He may act aloof a lot of times but he cared. Otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did. 

Blake nodded her head and turned around. She put her hand up to wave him goodbye and left. After walking a few blocks she began heading to the empty apartment she now called home. She needed to look at her wounds and hopefully get in early tomorrow to visit Recovery Girl. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I was having trouble with some parts and editing took a lot of time for me with my Beta Reader. Who I greatly thank with all their help!. 
> 
> Please enjoy and don't be afraid to critique I love that stuff.


	6. Rescues and Disasters

It was early morning and Ruby sat at her desk as she awaited her classmates. While walking in first thing this morning with Yang she had seen Aizawa-sensei and Blake having a discussion near the teachers office. Blake had gauze on her cheek as well as bandages wrapped around her head.

Now she and Yang were waiting for Blake to come back. 

“What the hell did she do last night?” Yang asked.

“Do you think Aizawa-sensei will punish her?” She wondered out loud. 

Yang stared at the empty desk beside her. Ruby could tell she was deep in her thoughts. They had gotten there too early again. She needed to have one more session with Recovery Girl to complete her healing. The door opened suddenly and Blake finally came in, she no longer had those bandages wrapped around her head nor was she wearing a gauze.

“Did you get into trouble?” Ruby asked curiously. 

“A week of detention, but I can still do hero training.” Blake answered with a small smile.

“What the hell happened last night.” Yang demanded. 

Blake looked at both of them and shrugged casually. 

“I got into a fight.”

Yang put her head on her desk, Ruby almost lost the grip of her water bottle. Blake was by far the strangest girl in class. How could she act so casual after admitting she got into a fight. 

“You were talking to Aizawa-sensei,” Yang asked, “what was the deal with that?”

  
“I just needed to ask him for some advice, nothing big.”

Ruby squinted her eyes as she watched Blake take out a book from her bag and started to read it silently. 

_Yup, definitely strange._

She shook her head and saw Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida come in bolting up to talk to them. She noticed Kaminari, Kirishima, Jirou, and Ojiro come in as well. Yang got out of her seat to talk to them before class started. 

After ten minutes, Aizawa-sensei came in with someone else. 

_Uncle Qrow? W-what?_

“Today’s training will be different,” Aizawa-sensei said, “You’ll have four instructors. Me, All Might, and two other faculty members will be keeping tabs on you.”

“Oh man is that Omen?! He’s ranked number ten!” Kirishima exclaimed, getting up from his seat. 

Sero raised his hand and asked, “Sensei, what kind of training is this?”

“Both of you settle down. I wasn’t done yet.” Aizawa-sensei said, annoyed. 

Qrow didn’t seem phased. He was in his hero costume. It consisted of his red cape, black mask, fluffy dress shirt, and his signature belt with all his bad luck charms. Ruby sighed, his fashion still needed some work. 

“You will be training on how to rescue people. Meaning you’ll be dealing with natural disasters. Shipwrecks, plane crashes. That kind of stuff.”

Ruby rocked against her desk a little, full of excitement. Though something felt off—why was Uncle Qrow coming? 

_Oh no…_

“Sounds like we’re gonna have a bit of a work out,” Kaminari said with a smirk. 

She only moved her eyes to Yang who also had a pale complexion similar to hers. 

_They have no idea…_

“Since All Might wanted this to be as real as possible for you all, we have also invited Omen to join us,” Aizawa-sensei explained, “You see, Omen’s quirk is Misfortune. He can cause bad luck up to a 50 mile radius in any area he is in. Once you arrive at the off campus facility and are given the assignment. He will activate his quirk.”

“Wait, so you’re gonna give us bad luck on purpose!?” Kaminari said in shock. 

“Now I’m even more excited! Bad luck will always affect people, even pro heroes.” Kirishima said, pumping his fist. 

Aizawa-sensei sighed. “Again, let me finish.”

Everyone stopped talking and gave Aizawa-sensei all their attention.

“What you wear in this exercise is up to you,” he said as he pressed the same button All Might did to reveal the costumes on the wall. “I know you’re excited about costumes, but remember you haven’t gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. We will be taking a bus to the facility so get ready. That is all.”

Ruby smiled as she got up to go get her costume. This was a big one for her. She wanted to be a Rescue Hero since Uncle Qrow told her about White Rose. 

* * *

Everyone was making their way to the bus and Iida was louder than usual with his whistle. 

Even for Nora’s standards it was a little too much noise. Beside her was her childhood best friend and roommate Ren. He stood there awkwardly in his hero outfit, adjusting his gloves that could create smoke bombs with his quirk. He looked so cool, like a ninja or samurai. They weren’t actually _together_ together in any aspect. They just were there for each other at the right time, during some bad stuff. 

Now, usually Nora wasn’t a forgetful person. But because she was so excited about U.A, she forgot to draw one major aspect for her hero costume. A small battery backpack that was supposed to charge her up constantly while she fought. It was one of the reasons Pyrrha defeated her and Ren in the battle trials. 

She glanced down at the remote small battery charger in her hand and sighed. She thought she charged herself last night at home, but once she smelled Ren’s cooking she immediately forgot. 

_It's not my fault he cooks so well…_

“Nora, did you hear him?” Ren said softly. “We need to line up by our numbers.” 

“Yeah, yeah I heard him,” Nora said, “Four Eyes really needs to calm down… Wait.”

“If you are suggesting me to use my quirk on him, no.”

Her face heated up. Ren always knew what she was thinking about. It annoyed her. She could barely understand him sometimes. He hid his emotions way too well, even from her, even though they had known each other for years.

“Shut up! I wasn’t, just maybe sneak it into his orange juice in the morning or something?”

“No.”

Nora pouted, glaring up at the taller boy. His hair was up in a low ponytail, it made him look rather handsome, but she preferred it down when it made him look more like his age. 

“Valkyrie, Ren are you two coming?” Iida called out. “We need all students lined up before we get on the bus.”

Nora rolled her eyes at the loud voice. She wished Pyrrha was class rep—at least she’d be more polite. Nora put her hands behind her head and walked to the line with Ren beside her. 

After more of Iida’s lecture they all walked into the bus, it was pretty spacious. Yang was sitting next to her sister, with Belladonna behind them next to Tokoyami. Belladonna was reading a book while Tokoyami was looking out the window. Yang was speaking to Ashido and Jirou as Ruby had her headphones on quietly listening to music. 

Nora wasn’t paying attention when she felt someone bump into her. A shock went through her body and the battery box in her hand slipped from her fingertips, straight to the ground. 

Everyone heard it and she looked down with surprise at the broken battery. She gritted her teeth and turned to the source that just screwed up her entire day.

“Watch where you’re going! Now I won’t be able to fight without charging myself.”

The boy in question looked at her. She recognized him as Kaminari. The stupid antenna that came up his right ear sparked a bit as he backed away at her fiery temper.

“Hey, don’t be angry at me. You were the one standing there. I-I guess because we both have electric quirks somehow our bodies cause friction or something.”

Nora looked at him up and down. She could sense the electricity coming out of his body and, without a thought, grabbed his arm. His eyes widened as she dragged him to one of the seats, forcing him to sit down next to her. His face was crimson. 

_It’s like he never touched a girl before or something...yet the way he usually acts says otherwise._

“What the hell!” He yelled. 

“You are going to charge me on the way to the facility, you broke my battery. Call it a favor.” 

Kaminari blinked at her as everyone watched them. She moved her eyes to Ren who was hiding a smirk. Okay, he might not be showing it per say, but unlike the rest of him, Ren’s eyes were very easy to read. He denied it, but Nora knew better after years of looking into his eyes to get a clue of what was going on in that pretty little head of his. 

“Damn Kaminari, you’re living a dream! A girl practically threw herself at you----owwww!”

Nora was grateful for the jack that somehow found Mineta’s head and caused him to shut up. She looked at Jirou and thanked her silently. Kaminari fidgeted next to her, his electricity coursing through her muscle fibers. It wasn’t like she wanted this to happen, it was just fortunate that he was the opposite or her. 

She remembered watching his fight with Jirou against the other team. Apparently when he used too much of his quirk, he lost brain functionality. That gave her an idea. She turned towards him, his cheeks were still red. Honestly she was just holding his arm, he needed to calm down. 

“Look, think of it this way buddy. If I touch you, you won’t lose your brain. My quirk allows me to absorb electricity, you can go full out with me beside you and you wouldn’t lose your mind.” She whispered it closely to him so that others couldn’t hear. He seemed to have calmed down as his arm muscles relaxed. He looked at her. 

“Really?” Kaminari asked with hope in his eyes. 

“Ohh trust me, I once got hit by lightning on a Thursday. I live for it.” She teased. 

Kaminari smiled and laughed a little. Despite the way he acted, Nora could tell he was actually pretty sweet on the inside. Why else would he want to be a hero like the rest of them? 

“Seriously Midoriya your quirk is so manly!” Kirishima said excitedly as Nora overheard the others talk to Midoriya about his quirk.

She noticed earlier that Midoriya’s quirk was different from the rest like Ruby’s and that it reminded her of All Might’s. Though unlike the others she usually kept it to herself. Nora took pride that she acted like an airhead but in reality knows exactly what’s going on. It’s how she figured out why Kaminari shortcomings had bothered him. 

_He wants to be taken seriously, like everyone else._

Kirishima spoke about his transformation quirk and how it didn’t look cool and flashy. She couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Emitter quirks may look flashy and all, but unlike the rest they were very hard to control and came with stricter limits. 

“If any of our classmates have pro quirks it's Todoroki, Bakugou, Xiao Long, Rose and Nikos. You guys were insane in the battle trials.” he gushed. 

Nora watched closely at the reactions. Todoroki was asleep, Yang smirked, Ruby looked up confused as to why everyone was staring at her, Pyrrha the same as Yang, and Bakugou just looked at Kirishima briefly uninterested. 

“I mean sure, but Bakugou is always angry so he’ll never be that popular.” Tsuyu quipped.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY! I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!” Bakugo barked.

“See what I mean?” She pointed out.

Nora smirked at Bakugou’s explosion but frowned as Jirou almost fell out of her seat next to him. He was a childish boy and can be really reckless at times.

She felt Kaminari shift beside her and let out a laugh at what he said next. “Ya know we basically just met you. So, it's kinda telling that we all know your personality is a flaming pile of crap mix with garbage.”

Well that certainly was a picture worth a thousand words. Kaminari was definitely someone that didn’t have a filter and Bakugou only became more feral after those words. To the point where he threatened Kaminari. 

She watched as Pyrrha turned her attention to Jaune and sighed. The boy looked like he was about to throw up again and she was trying to comfort him. It would have been cute if it didn’t involve vomit. 

_I will never understand that girl’s type._

The rest of the ride was noisy and she missed Ren. She let her eyes find his after he turned away from a conversation with Iida who stood next to him. It was nice to see him talk to someone besides her. He was always a shy guy, even when they were younger. Although it was him who helped her come out of her shell. Back then she had been the timid one, deathly afraid of people while just trying to survive. 

_Don’t think of the past Valkyrie, it's over._

“You okay?” 

Nora almost jumped and lost her concentration at the sound of a deep voice and turned her head to meet bright golden eyes. Kaminari looked at her with concern. Apparently he was more observant than she initially thought. 

“Me? I’m fine, just anxious to get there already! I’ve wanted to do this since I was young!”

“Yeah same here! It’s different though since this is just an exercise. I’m Denki Kaminari by the way, but you can...if you want, call me Denki? Formalities are not my thing.”

“Nora Valkyrie, please call me Nora, it's easier on the tongue ya see!”

She watched him smile, it was different from the one he usually showed consisting of smugness and attitude. This one was more meaningful. 

_I knew it, any guy with a bravado like that is a complete dork in the end._

“Ya know I was rooting for you against Nikos! Your quirk is awesome, it’s just Nikos is..”

“A literal goddess of war?” She finished as she remembered the fight.

“Yeah!”

Nora laughed, Denki was fun to talk too and at least now she could drown out the others who just kept arguing. Even though he started it. With that top notch diss. 

* * *

They finally arrived at the place, and Iida being Iida gave them orders to follow Aizawa-sensei into the building in a single file line. 

When all the students got out of the bus they were met by Thirteen, the Space Hero. As usual everyone went into a frenzy about her while a few of them just watched. Yang felt odd. Heroes just didn’t make her excited. The fact that she wasn’t doused with emotions like the rest of them scared her. At least she wasn’t alone. 

Yang put on her fireproof sunglasses and jacket as they walked into the facility. She really hated how tight the jacket was, even though it's supposed to be modeled after the bomber jacket she owned. 

_It's like they want my muscles to be visible._

She didn’t have a chance to think about it too much. Not with what she just walked into. The place was huge and had several areas that resemble natural disasters. It looked like an amusement park. 

Thirteen explained to them each of the areas as she boasted about the facility. 

_So she created this facility herself. Cool--Wait did she just say U.S.J, like Universal Studio of Japan?_

Aizawa-sensei and Qrow walked up to where Thirteen was and discussed something among themselves. Yang looked around the place and a cold shiver ran down her spine. Someone was watching her. She looked around immediately in search of the source and could have sworn she saw someone in the shadows. 

She wasn’t the only one who sensed it. Qrow looked away from the teachers briefly. He caught her gaze and narrowed his eyes. He knew what she wanted to do, and it wasn’t allowed. Yang clenched her fists together and bit her lip, she saw Blake who was looking around as well before Aizawa-sensei glared at her. 

_Seriously what is going on?_

Thirteen turned her attention back to the students and told them about the exercise. Yang remembered what Aizawa-sensei told her about her quirk. She needed to use less of it in most situations. She listened to Thirteen’s words and finally seemed to understand why he told her that. 

“Your powers are not meant to inflict harm,” Thirteen said, “I hope you leave here today with the understanding that you're meant to help people.”

Yang felt determined and nodded with the rest of the class after what the Space Hero said. This wasn’t a game, she had to finally understand why she was given her quirk in the first place. 

_To save peoples lives._

Everything suddenly went dark and Aizawa-sensei along with the rest of the teachers looked alert. A red and black portal formed in the middle of the facility. A figure came out with what seemed to be a hand on his face, next to him was a man who had red-hair with bull horns wearing a mask. Yang squinted her eyes to see someone behind them in a red and black outfit they also had headgear but they disappeared immediately. She did catch one thing about that person. 

_Glowing red eyes._

Suddenly the teachers were in fighting positions as more figures came out of the portal, some wearing the same kind of mask as the red-haired man with advanced weapons on hand. Others were quirk users. It looked as if they were arriving for war. 

“Shit, So that’s what she’s been doing.” She heard Qrow mutter.

Yang looked up at him immediately.

_Who is he talking about, who is she?_

Yang racked her brain as she tried to figure out what Qrow meant, all that came to mind was the picture that she remembered she found in Taiyang’s office. The one with him, Qrow, Summer and her. She felt her heart pound as she let her eyes go back to the portal. 

_Mom?_

“Stay back, This is real. They are villains and they seem to have made an alliance with the White Fang Cult.” Aizawa-sensi shouted, slipping on his goggles. 

All they could do was stand there as the four pro-heroes went in front of them to keep them safe. She turned back to Blake and saw fear in her eyes. 

* * *

This was too real and he didn’t know what to think anymore. 

Shouto watched calmly as villains and cult members spilled out of the red portal. He saw that his classmates were shaking, but no one shook as much as Belladonna. The fear in her eyes was different, and she wasn’t looking at the mass. Her eyes were focused on one person. 

“Is he kidding? Real villains, how did so many of them get in here?” Kirishima asked. 

“Thirteen, why didn’t the security sirens go off?” Yaoyorozu asked. 

Thirteen was at loss of words. Shouto remembered one of the Villains said something about searching for All Might. It made him uneasy, especially when All Might wasn’t around. 

“Is the entire campus under attack?” Shouto wondered. “Or are they here after certain targets? If the alarm sensors aren’t being triggered one of the villains must possess a quirk that’s masking their present here.They carefully chose this isolation facility as an entry point to at a time a class is being taught.”

Everyone looked at him as if he was kidding. He never joked. 

“They are fools for trespassing, but they carefully thought this out, whatever they are planning they have a reason for this.” 

Another dark figure came out of the portal. He had a gas like appearance with glowing yellow eyes. After he stepped onto the ground the red portal disappeared.

  
  


* * *

He knew this was a bad idea, and yet he went with it. Qrow stood back to back with Aizawa as he punched one of the thugs. He flipped over Aizawa and kicked another that almost slipped because of the bad luck that was within their circle. He put a lot of pressure in his head to keep control of his quirk. Hopefully they could get this done quickly. 

Another thing about his quirk was that he could increase people’s paranoia when his right eye met them head on. By harnessing the feeling of bad luck, he could cause his target to become paranoid by everything that could be a bad luck charm—such as cracks, broken mirrors, and black cats. 

He glared as the red portal disappeared in front of them. He knew who it belonged to and he hated the fact that she used it. His sister was a piece of work, always telling him only the strongest survived. 

_Well I guess allying with villans means you’ll survive this war huh? Coward._

“Omen pay attention,” Aizawa growled, “More are coming.”

“Yeah, Yeah I know.”

Qrow hoped that Aizawa would not be hit with the bad luck wave he just let out. He saw villains fall and harm themselves in the process. He winced as one of the White Fang members slit their own throat with the Schnee Agency weapon that had that special hard light dust they were known for.

_That’s why weapons like that are illegal, morons._

Before he and Aizawa could continue to fight, he saw that the last villain had escaped from Aizawa’s hold. 

_Well, that happened._

* * *

He had enough as he watched both the pro-heroes fight down there. Ejirou wanted to help, he couldn’t just stand here doing nothing. 

He turned to Bakugou who also looked like he wanted to do the same thing. Ejirou smiled to himself and turned back around. His eyes then caught Xiao Long watching with fury in her eyes. After the red portal disappeared she had been shaking with anger. It was a sight to witness, because she was usually a very friendly girl. 

Though once the dark gas villain was all in front of them and explained that they were the League of Villains he kind of understood why. This was supposed to be training and instead they were literally in the middle of a real fight to the death. 

He felt adrenaline pump into his veins as he looked at the Villan head on. He sounded obnoxious and full of himself, and honestly talking about All Might was way too far. 

Ejirou went in front of everyone and he wasn’t alone. Xiao Long and Bakugou were next to him. Xiao Long smashed her fists together to activate her quirk, her wrist bracelets now gauntlets. Bakugou pulled his palm back, ready to explode. 

All three jumped with battle cries to shut this villain up. His hardened fist made a blow, maybe not as powerful as Bakugou and Xiao Long, but it was enough. 

They landed back on their feet and Ejirou smirked, he glanced at the other two who were also gleeful. 

“Did ya really think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds?”

The gas villain didn’t even budge and Ejirou felt fear as the smoke cleared. In front of him was the red-haired man with horns. His weapon out, glowing blood red. 

“You kids are not as strong as I thought,” The man scoffed, looking at his weapon mockingly.

“They do live up to their school reputation, but they should be more careful. Let’s give them a test that will lead them to death shall we?” 

The man smirked at the gas villain. “Be my guest.”

Before anyone could stop it a swirl of purple gas like energy came towards all them. Ejirou braced himself as black portals opened and sucked everyone in. 

* * *

There was only darkness for a brief second and then he landed on his feet. Shouto looked around and glared at the villains in front of him, freezing them with his quirk. He sensed another presence and turned around to see Belladonna, already defeated another one he didn’t freeze yet. Her face no longer held that fear he saw in her before. 

Belladonna looked at him briefly before one of her ribbons went past him to choke one of the villains. 

_How careless of me._

He growled, stepping on the ground again as ice erupted and encased most of the goons in front of them. Belladonna narrowed her eyes. 

“Are you embarrassed that you’ve been defeated by children?” She hissed. 

“For god’s sake, put up a real fight,” he growled. 

They started at each other for a brief moment. Shouto knew she was a capable fighter. Her quirk is rather versatile, but he didn’t know if she was capable of fighting with him. 

“You want a real fight, little boy?” A low voice came out as another portal formed, and the man with red-hair and horns came out with a smirk on his face. “Then how about you fight me?”

“Adam…” Belladonna growled. 

“I knew I’d find you here Blake, is it fun being a hero?” Adam taunted her. 

“Why are you making the White Fang work with villains, that is not what it's for.”

Shouto carefully observed the scene. This Adam knew Belladonna somehow. Belladonna was always shrouded with an air of mystery. He never really cared what his other classmates liked or disliked nor does he care about the relationship between this man and Belladonna. 

“I’m hurt, you really don’t understand how cruel this world is do you? After all, you are still a child.” 

Shouto had enough of this nonsense. He stepped on the floor and aimed his ice towards the man. To his surprise, the man dodged it quickly before slashing his weapon in the air. A massive red wave of energy came at them. Shouto put up an ice barrier only for it to shatter completely and hit him and Belladonna. 

“Don’t you have anything else other than that stupid ice formation?” Adam mocked as he landed on his feet. 

Shouto growled as he attacked again despite Belladonna warning him. He formed more ice towers beneath the man. In hopes it would cause him to freeze. Unfortunately Adam attacked it with his sword breaking it while also absorbing the attack. 

_His quirk must be similar to Xiao Long, but it involves the use of weapons._

“Now that’s the kind of attack I’ve been waiting for.” 

“So that’s the plan right?” Shouto said. “You scattered us all around here to kill us.”

“Well it's one of the plans.” Adam said deviously.

Shouto knew that they also came here to go after All Might, but there was another target. He thought that this man would be with the others, yet he specifically came to where he was with Belladonna. Shouto’s eyes narrowed. 

_It all makes sense now. The second target...is Belladonna._

He looked back at Adam, then to Belladonna. She looked at him with fear and hatred. Then Shouto noticed her bow twitch. 

_I see now..._

“So, are we just going to stand here or fight?” He said his eyes directly at Adam’s covered ones. 

Adam merely smirked as creatures in white masks came behind him. 

* * *

Momo stood back to back with Pyrrha as they fought off the villains. Watching Pyrrha in action was something else. She moved so fluidly and used the metal around her like second nature. While Momo created weapons, Pyrrha manipulated her own out of the metal she gathered. She was holding a shield and spear, her tiara gleaming as her battle cry escaped her lips. It was no wonder the girl got the highest score on the physical. She was a real pro. 

On the other side, Kaminari and Jirou kept on arguing while Ren and Valkyrie cooperated in the battle. Ren threw his smoke bombs at some of the villains and Valkyrie does a surprise attack with her fists or the sledgehammer Momo created. Her muscles spark with lightning. 

“Shit!” Kaminari cried. ”I think I just saw the grim reaper, these guys are scary!”

“Could you take it down a few notches?” Jirou said, annoyed.

Momo sighed as she and Pyrrha came to them and formed a tight circle. This was the last thing she wanted to do after yesterday. Weiss was oddly sweet to her on the phone last night and it made her feel better about the next day. Sadly, all good things must come to an end at some point and that is now, as she and her classmates fight for their lives. 

“Right now we need to focus on getting away from these enemies.” She said seriously. 

“Then create a weapon for me too.” Kaminari argued as he looked at her. 

“Can’t you just zap them?” Jirou questioned as she moved one of her jacks to plug into her boots, her hyper sonic sound waves knocking some of the White Fang members coming at them. 

“Have you paid attention to my quirk at all when we paired up!?” Kaminari said incredulously. “I can use my electricity but it can also harm you guys. That’s the last thing I’d want right now!”

Momo sighed. She could understand not wanting that kind of burden. Maybe she could make a blanket that could cover all of them except Kaminari so he can shock everyone, but that would take too much time. 

_Wait Valkyrie! Her high voltage quirk, she can void out Kaminari’s!_

“Valkyrie!” She yelled and the girl turned her head after swinging her hammer into another goon, eyes attentive.

“Pick him up, use him as a charger and defeat the rest of the enemies. You are the strongest one here.”

She watched as a manic grin formed on Valkyrie's face and understood now why Pyrrha called her a monster in the battle field. Valkyrie made number nine on the physical but she made number three in the strength tests. 

“Got it!” Valkyrie shouted. ”Denki let's break some legs!” 

Kaminari looked scared as she ran to him and placed him on her back. The electricity in her muscles sparked more than usual. 

“Get ready, cause I’m about to shock you.” Valkyrie declared.

The villains all charged at her and Kaminari. He clinged onto her with his life and started to emit electricity, only for it to be voided by her body. Valkyrie swung her electrified fists and shocked the first enemy before turning around towards Pyrrha. She ran to her friend and jumped on the makeshift shield. Pyrrha unsurprisingly could handle both of their weights as they went into the sky before falling down to smash the ground and cause a mini lightning explosion within their space. 

Momo covered her eyes with the rest as the dust cleared and revealed a happy Valkyrie and a panicked Kaminari. The enemies were spooled on the ground, some with broken legs.

“Well, if I didn’t know any better, I think we just got them all?” Valkyrie said with a smile on her face. 

“T-That was hardcore.” Jirou muttered. 

“I told you she was powerful.” Pyrrha smirked. 

“I may have created a monster.” Momo said with wide eyes. 

Valkyrie put Kaminari back on his feet, he looked rather tired but his brain appeared to be intact as the girl next to him slung his arm over her shoulder with concern. Ren walked over to them and placed his hand on Valkyrie's shoulder giving her a small smile. 

Momo turned to Pyrrha and saw her hold her head. She must have used too much of her quirk giving her a migraine. Still she was pretty amazing out here, she had defeated most of them before Momo made Valkyrie finish them off. She wanted to be strong like her. Pyrrha was like an amazon warrior. 

“Yes?” Pyrrha asked curiously. 

“Ohh, um Pyrrha, do you think we could spar each other sometimes? I want to get stronger and in order to do that I need to learn how to fight more fluidly. Y-You are really strong and can do so much with your quirk, but like Belladonna you too don’t use it as much.”

Pyrrha smiled at her, and Momo felt herself be lifted up from her awful state of mind. She felt the girl wrap her arms around her shoulder and give her a small hug before pulling away just as fast. 

“I’d love to spar with you! You are really strong too Momo, and don’t be sad about what happened yesterday okay?”

Momo wanted to cry, but stood her ground as more villains came to their area. They had a job to do and it didn’t involve crying. 

* * *

Tsuyu stared at the two people in front of her—minus Mineta, because she didn’t care about him. She had just gotten everyone out from danger within the water and now they were on the boat. Ruby’s cloak was soaked and clung to her as Midoriya’s outfit looked uncomfortable. They discussed briefly about the situation while Mineta complained in the background. Midoriya was calling her by her last name but then realized his mistake. 

_He blushes way too easily._

Tsuyu turned her attention to Ruby who stood on the other side. She seemed deep in thought. Something she had noticed earlier. Despite her young age Ruby was very much beyond her years. The same could be said for her sister and in retrospect Blake and Todoroki. 

_She’s always nervous too, why does she feel so intimidated around everyone else?_

Midoriya followed her gaze and nodded before they walked to the other girl, again ignoring Mineta and his complaints. Frankly it wasn’t helping any of them. 

When they got to where Ruby was the girl in question stared at the water in wonder. She looked at it with such intensity that it made her look constipated. It was hard to know what she thinks, because she usually keeps her emotions controlled. 

_Both of them do._

“What are you thinking about Ruby?” Tsuyu asked.

Ruby replied, “I was thinking about how we can take away their advantage with the water. We have to somehow drain it. Like blow a hole into it?” 

“I-I think I can do that!” Midoriya spoke up with some confidence. 

“How are you gonna do that huh!?” Mineta yelled behind. 

“I-If I use just a bit of my quirk I will be able to create a massive hole. Might break a finger but, it's better than allowing Rose to use her quirk and risk her entire body."

Tsuyu watched Ruby frown and look away. She had just gotten better after what happened a few days ago. Though it was obvious she wanted to fight, then something came to Tsuyu as she remembered how they got here. 

“You know Ruby, I noticed something about one of the villains?”

“What?”

“The gas one, his quirk is kinda similar to yours.”

She stared at Tsuyu with wide eyes and turned her body completely to look at her, before shaking her head quickly. 

“That’s crazy, my quirk is more physical than his. I don’t think I can warp or any of those cool things. I mean bad things but cool things.” Ruby stammered. 

Ruby blushed at how she complimented a villain. Tsuyu couldn't help but see her as one of her little siblings. The thirteen year old was still rather young and she felt a need to guide her in the right direction. They both then turned around towards Midoriya and decided now was the time to strategize. 

Huddling up, Tsuyu explained her quirk. She was an frog faunus with multiple traits from the animal her quirkless parents possessed. She had a long tongue, could crawl up any wall, had poisonous mucus, and could jump real high. 

“As you can see mine is super strength but it comes with a price…” Midoriya said sadly as he looked at his fist. 

“Mine is turning into a burst of petals that can go real fast and create a huge impact on it’s target. Oh and I can also kinda fly when I’m up in mid air.” Ruby said nervously.

Tsuyu nodded her head and then turned to the fourth member. Once again Mineta broke down about his quirk being useless and how they were all gonna die. 

_His quirk is not that useless, it's his personality that is the problem…_

“Then it's settled then, I’ll use my quirk to make the hole.” Midoriya said solemnly as he got up. 

Ruby got up as well and Mineta watched her. With a roll of her eyes Tsuyu grabbed the coward and held him with one arm. “If you try anything, I won’t hesitate.” 

Mineta squeaked in fear as they commenced the plan. 

* * *

Dark and Gloomy, of course they would put him where it suits him best. What a foolish thing to do. Fumikage launched another attack using Dark Shadow’s claws, he heard a grunt next to him and let his eyes go to Schnee who had just summoned another animal. This time a Kangaroo. 

The white figure fought the villains around him with the control of Schnee’s fingers. It was rather impressive how still she could be, despite her attitude she was a very capable fighter. He turned to Kouda and saw him punch another guy down and sighed. This was going to take time. 

“It seems we are defeating them, but it's taking a lot of time.” He said. 

“Thank you Captain Obvious.” Schnee grumbled as her last summon had disappeared. 

The crow faunus was annoyed by her attitude. She was always this way around him, never trusting when he showed even a slight bit of his kindness. Though he shouldn’t be surprised she was a Schnee, and that family was very cruel to the faunus. 

“You can’t simply use your summon.” Fumikage said sternly.

“Look who’s talking birdbrain.” Schnee sneered. 

“Do not insult me Schnee.” He said firmly. 

“It’s your people that are causing this, have you not seen that?” Schnee growled with frustration. “They are the ones who are fighting us with the League of Villains! Your race is a menace to the world.”

Fumikage looked at her with sharp eyes. After what he saw and learned of what Blake had been up to, he was rather fed up with humans calling his race that kind of word. 

“The commission is made up purely of humans. Do you really want to argue with me about equality right now?" He warned. “We need to focus and work together.”

Schnee glared at him as Kouda watched with sadness in his eyes. He didn’t want to get angry, Dark Shadow was connected to his emotions. If he lashed out, they lash out too. 

* * *

Grunts could be heard all around as Ejirou, Xiao Long, and Bakugou fought off the villains around them. Xiao Long used her gauntlets to create mini gold fire attacks using her quirk when it activated and flared up her skin. Bakugou continued using his gauntlets that amplified his sweat explosions. 

_Man I want gauntlets, they are so manly!_

Ejirous shook his head and punched another with his hardened hand. They all were in a tight circle at the end. Ejirou panted and looked at both of them. 

“I think that’s the last of these guys, bunch of weaklings.” Bakugou grumbled. 

“And yet you’re the one panting?” Xiao Long quipped. 

“You want to go blondie!?” He growled. 

Ejirou sighed at the two. On one hand Xiao Long was a lot more laid back then Bakugou, but she also had a huge ego when it comes to fighting. He could only just look back at the situation and think about the others. 

“Okay guys. Let's hurry and find the rest of our class. If we’re still in the U.S.J then they are as well, plus some of them don’t have the offensive skill we do. In the end this was our fault for interfering. ” He said seriously. 

“Then we should start by trying to pick up a signal nearby.” Xiao Long agreed. 

Bakugou on the other hand looked away. He clenched his fist and seemed to be thinking of something or someone. Ejirou admired how determined he can be. Maybe he has a plan. 

“You two can go track them, be my guest. I’m going to go after that fucking warp bastard.”

“Are you that far up your ass?!” Xiao Long exploded. 

Ejirou watched her. He remembered before how deadly she looked at the beginning of this whole thing. She may be nice, but she is not someone you’d want to see angry. He watched as Bakugou glared at her before looking back at the pile before them. 

“Shut up! He is their only way out of here. If I cut out their only way back, then they will be stuck here and pay for what they’ve done.” he snarled.

Bakugou then turned around and stopped someone coming from behind him to blow up on their head and knock them out. He then spoke, strangely calm at the fact that these villains were weak and that their classmates could handle them. Sadly, Xiao Long's words hit both of them hard as she told them just how prepared the villains were.

“Even if you defeat the warp bastard, they still have a way to get out,” Xiao Long said, “They came in from a red portal.” 

“Then we’ll fucking figure this shit out.” Bakugou argued, glaring at her before looking away.

Ejirou closed his eyes as he tried to think of something. To think any of them could be calm in this situation was definitely not happening now. Both these blondes have quite the temper, though Bakugou seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

“Look if you two want to search for them, then leave me out of it.” 

Xiao Long watched him carefully with her hands on her hips. She then pounded them together to charge up her quirk. Her eyes shone with new hope and determination as she looked at Bakugou. 

“You may be an ass, but you have a lot of hope that we’ll win.” She said.

“You also believe in our other classmates abilities, from what you said before.” Eijirou couldn't help but add as he hardened his arms again. 

Bakugou glared at both of them before rolling his eyes and started to walk out of the building. He and Xiao Long followed suit. 

* * *

The dark creatures were strong and Shouto had never felt so alive. He had never fought anything like this before. Unlike the villains they moved fast like real wolves, and he learned his ice wasn’t enough. Belladonna was surprisingly doing better; she was more flexible than the other students. Shouto wondered if it was years of practice like his own. She was skilled even without using her quirk. 

Adam had disappeared back into the black portal, he didn’t even blink when he looked at Shouto with mockery. It made his blood boil. Adam didn’t see either of them as a threat, he just wanted them—especially Belladonna—dead. 

Shouto grabbed the palm of the creature and froze it, breaking free from it’s grasp. He growled as he stepped forward and created pikes of ice so that they could be stabbed, but they only broke the ice. 

“What are these things?” He asked, mostly to himself. 

Belladonna used her ribbons to collide the two creatures together. They yelled in agony, and yet still nothing made a cut. She was a strong fighter and quick enough to dodge the creatures attack. She used her quirk as decoys to get them to run into each other. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and it was slowly draining her. 

“Freeze them again! We need something really heavy to fall on them?” Belladonna ordered as she looked at the mountain rocks above them. 

She jumped and grabbed the boulder with her ribbons from the top and yanked at it. She landed next to Shouto and continued to pull. Shouto contemplated, but stepped down on the ground before freezing the creatures again. Belladonna freed the bolder and it fell, shattering them to pieces.

They turned into black dust. It was over. They won. He then looked back at Belladonna and that was when something caught his eyes. 

“Are those?”

_They look like cat ears…._

Belladonna looked at him strangely before she used one of her hands to touch her head only to have her eyes widened at the fact that her bow was gone. She looked around frantically and was just about to run when he grabbed her wrist. 

“You’re a faunus.” he said, narrowing his eyes. 

“Yes,” Belladonna said with no hesitation.

“Why hide it?” He asked.

She ignored him, her ears flattened against her head. She then gave him a serious look. She wasn’t one to dwell it seems as she only replied to him with a warning. 

“They are going after All Might and we have to hurry.” 

She pulled her hand from his grip and redid her bow with one of the ribbons on her wrist. He watched her with new curiosity and wonder before following her. They had a job right now, and they needed to continue and get to All Might before the villains killed him. 


	7. Don't Let The Fire Burn Out.

Yang really wanted to hurt someone now and it was Bakugou. She growled as he ran ahead of both her and Kirishima. She didn’t understand this boy at all. However, she could tell he saw something in their class and that there was a way to save everyone. 

_Even though all he cares about is beating Midoriya for some insane reason…_

She looked up and saw Qrow holding his stomach, watching in horror as All Might was being sucked into the warp-gate. Yang could see the blood drip down from where he stood. She felt tears start to burn behind her eyes as she pushed herself to her limit to reach them. Her body wasn’t exhausted since the villains she’d faced before were mediocre. 

_Please don’t die, you can’t die._

She saw Ruby next to Midoriya running towards the battle. The boy’s hand was covered, most likely due to injury. Yang figured it was that dangerous quirk of his that caused it. Ruby looked as if she used her quirk, she was panting and her arm was limp at her side. 

_Dammit I should have been here, I should have protected her._

All Might was struggling in his battle with the warp user, while the man with the horns aimed his glowed up weapon at Qrow. Yang stomped her feet to cause as much pain as possible. She looked at Kirishima who ran next to her. 

“Hit me hard right now.” She began. 

“A-Are you crazy?” Kirishima asked, baffled. 

“I need to charge up to at least fifty percent. He’s aiming an attack at Omen. Just fucking hit me.”

Kirishima lifted his arm and it hardened. He then swung it blindly as it hit her chest. She felt the fire in her blood burn up her arms and legs and told him to do it again. He did and it drew blood this time as he hit her arm. Her blood when fresh absorbed quickly and her hair lit up like a candle. 

“Holy shit your eyes.” He cursed. 

Yang smiled at him before she ran ahead towards everyone. Midoriya started to move in the direction of All Might, while the man with horns swung his crimson weapon towards Qrow. She managed to get in front of him just as Bakugou surprised everyone and went for the warp quirk user. 

“Get the hell out of the way Deku!” He yelled as he pushed the villain to the ground. 

Meanwhile the red wave of energy was blocked with a double punch. She grit her teeth as she pressed both her gauntlets against the wave before finally extinguishing it. She looked up to see her hands were burned by the attack and panted. 

“Oh my god,” Kirishima said in shock as he tried to focus on the other villains circling them. “You just punched his attack.” 

“Yeah but it’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve done in my life..” Yang muttered

She winced at the burned flesh. She couldn’t even unroll her hands without feeling excruciating pain. She turned around to see if the others were okay. Qrow looked at her with shock and worry, his gaze was on her hands. 

“Don’t worry, I can still move them.” She assured him. 

He frowned at her and looked away. He was mad, she could tell, but he had to understand she wasn’t a little kid anymore. Yang had to fight, in order to protect him and Ruby. The good thing about her condition was that her hands were not broken, just severely burned. 

_I’m just gonna need lots of ointment_

She looked down at the callused and swollen skin and cringed a little at how gross they looked. Guess she had to use her legs for the rest of the fight. Now Yang preferred using her fits, but in certain situations like this she knew her legs were a lot more sturdy and powerful enough to endure the attacks. 

The horned man looked at her in shock as he backed away and went near the head villain. He growled as he tried to get the other one to focus before turning towards the really huge black thing. All Might flipped out of the warp and landed next to her and Qrow, he held his chest and was panting really hard. Yang felt dejavu as she looked at him. Just something about him made her think about the sickly blonde who caught her and Kyouka at Recovery Girl’s office.

_Wait...don’t tell me?_

Yang's eyes widened as she started to piece things together, but a battle cry from Kirishima who tried to hurt the head villain made her focus on what's important right now. 

“It's over!” A feminine voice called out. 

Yang knew that voice as she turned around to see Blake and Todoroki on the other side. Todoroki created an ice floor and immediately froze the black thing the horned man was advancing to. It made the horned man jump back to the others. He growled and glared at both of them. Yang wondered if they had fought him before. 

“The Symbol of Peace will not be defeated by you delinquents.” Todoroki said calmly as he glared at the villains. 

If this was a different situation she would absolutely tell Todoroki that was the lamest intro she’d heard her entire life, and she has heard a lot of bad ones. 

_Courtesy of Uncle Qrow…._

“Yang!”

Yang didn’t notice the black thing had regrown his limbs run towards her and the others. She was just standing there when suddenly someone came and grabbed her at a speed she couldn’t sense. It wasn’t Ruby or Blake. She suddenly landed near Midoriya and Ruby. Qrow was next to her on his back. 

“Omen!” Ruby gasped as she ran to where they were. 

Qrow groaned as he stared at Ruby and her before he got up wincing as the wound opened wider. He turned his body and glared. 

“Are you an idiot?! They were capable of dodging!” he growled.

“You and I both know that isn't true Omen.” All Might said as he continued to hold his chest. 

Yang didn’t understand Qrow’s reaction. He knew that they worked close together, but why was he so angry? All Might had just saved their lives. She turned to Midoriya and saw fear in his eyes as he stared at the man. 

Bakugou, Kirishima, Blake and Todoroki were across from her. They were also in disbelief and shock. She looked at All Might and felt she could have done more. She painfully clenched the ground with her burned fingers tightly balling them into fists. Even though she never knew what she felt about All Might. He cared, he cared for all of them. 

_Now I think I’m starting to understand..._

She stood up with the others and watched All Might go into full power. The fight was incredible. The way he moved so fast and fluidly inspired her to get stronger. He defeated what she now learned was Nomu, by punching it straight into the stratosphere. It was the most incredible thing she’s ever seen her entire life. 

* * *

This was such a pain. She didn’t know how this villain was able to knock Ren out and cause Valkyrie to lose the functionality of her body, but right now. She was being held next to Kaminari by another person with an electric quirk. Kyouka turned to look at Yaoyorozu and Nikos, both holding their weapons. 

_If we fight, he’ll hurt them both. Damn what are we supposed to do?_

Valkyrie fortunately wasn’t like Kaminari who was freaking out. She kept on moving herself, her teeth gritted as she swung against the villain. He only absorbed more of her storage electricity to get her to stop. At that moment her eyes closed and she cried out in pain. 

“Let go of her now!” Kyouka growled. 

“Put your hands up, and maybe I’ll let both of them go.” He taunted. 

“You’re the one that caused all the communication and security to jam.” Yaoyorozu accused him. 

Nikos stayed quiet as her eyes went towards the guy, she was looking straight ahead. She was planning something. Kyouka wondered what. Nikos was as smart as Yaoyorozu and not just book smart. She had learned in the battle trials, Nikos was an incredible fighter. Her polarity quirk was as powerful as Todoroki’s quirk.

Kyouka kept her eyes on both Kaminari and Valkyrie. She felt so useless as she tried to think of a distraction so she could get her jack into her stereo boots. It was then she saw something hovering behind him, it was a metal plate Nikos had used earlier. Quickly her eyes went back to Nikos and could see the pain in her eyes as she continued to stare at the man emotionless, her hands glowing dimly with her quirk. 

“Why do you keep staring sweetie? Do you want me or something?”

“Oh, I’m sorry were you talking to me?” Nikos said with a smirk. 

“What the he---”

Before he could say anything the metal plate that was behind him hit him straight in the back of his neck. He stumbled and both Valkyrie and Kaminari went flying. Nikos caught Valkyrie as Yaoyorozu got Kaminari. They landed safely back on their side and Kyouka sighed in relief as they laid both of them beside each other. Kaminari who was still conscious moved his hand to touch Valkyrie. Once it was there, sparks of electricity went from yellow to pink and it transferred into her body. 

_She needs electricity in her and fast. You go to Kaminari._

“You really think that would fucking defeat me!” The villain said as he got up and glared at them. 

“I wasn’t trying to kill you, I just wanted to save my friends.” Nikos said seriously.

She got up and pulled the metal plate towards her, manipulating it into a new shield. Kyouka quickly gave the metal pole she was holding to her and backed away as Nikos glared at the guy. At that point neither her nor Yaoyorozu wanted to get in the way.

The villain charged up and ran towards Nikos, she dodged and then pushed her shield against his chest. Kyouka’s eyes widened as she spotted a smirk on the villain's face. He used his quirk on Nikos’ shield and electrocuted it. Nikos clenched her teeth in pain at the attack and continued to move forward, pushing him with all her power to one of the mountain walls. When she got to at least a meter she activated her quirk and used its extra force to slam him against it.

“Gaaah! Please stop, I’m sorry!” He screamed. 

“You should have thought of that before you tried to hurt my friends.” Nikos growled

Sweat fell down her face as she continued to push the shield on his body. After a few cracks were heard she let go of him. He fell down crippled. Nikos stared down at him with disgust before she looked ahead at the rest of them and smiled. 

“Well, that’s that!”

Yaoyorozu chuckled as she made her way to the other recommendation student. Nikos leaned against her exhausted and held her head. Kyouka just watched as they walked towards her. Nikos looked so harmless after crippling a dude. 

_Then again...he asked for it._

“We should probably try to get to where the others are.” she offered. 

“Good idea, could you carry Valkyrie?” Yaoyorozu asked. 

Just as things calmed down they heard a commotion at the bottom of the mountain area. They were never going to catch a break were they? Kyouka sighed and slung Valkyrie over her back as Kaminari was put over Yaoyorozu. Nikos, now next to them, was more energetic, holding Ren. 

* * *

Ruby watched Yang hold Uncle Qrow's arm over her shoulder as they were all guided outside. She looked tired and exhausted, but she also was hopeful. Both her family members were injured but they managed to survive. 

Unfortunately, the head villain and the horned man managed to escape through the red portal that once again seemed to appear out of nowhere. Thirteen tried to suck away the warp guy with her black-hole quirk but only held him for a short period of time. Midoriya on the other hand almost got himself killed again by trying to save All Might. In the end Iida had gotten the other faculty members in time. They all survived and yet Ruby couldn’t help but remember the look in the villain's eyes before he escaped. The stuff he said. They were now living in dangerous times. 

_Yet, I wouldn’t trade it for the world._

Ruby looked down at her broken arm now in a sling and remembered how she used her quirk to catch Midoriya in the air. Tsuyu wasn’t fast enough to get to him since one of the men in the water had made Midoriya wind up further away from the boat. During that moment she melded not just herself, but him into her warped burst of petals. They were a swirl of green and red, it was so real as she felt not just petals but lightning. The pure energy that she saw was just like All Might’s. 

Afterwards, she was able to regroup her leg bones correctly and almost got a perfect rearrangement until she screwed up her right arm. Before she didn't really care about her injury and instead focused on protecting Midoriya but now she's just upset at her own failure to control her quirk fully. 

_Curse you right arm. Once we get back I’ll need another treatment. Uncle Qrow told me I need to be more careful though since Recovery Girl can’t always heal me...in fact she could kill me one day._

With that thought in mind Ruby walked over to her family and hugged them. Both winced but she didn’t care they were alive and that’s all that mattered. They were all she had left of her family including her dad. She couldn't afford to lose any of them, ever. 

“Oh my god you guys look awful! What happened to you?” 

Ruby looked up to see Mina, Uraraka, Kyouka, Yaoyorozu and...Weiss?

“One broken arm, one bleeding stomach, and two burned fists.” Yang said with a half-smile.

She lifted up her bandaged hands and the girls ran over to her as Ruby walked Qrow to the ambulance. Ruby smiled as the girls lectured Yang. Her sister could be very reckless in battle especially with how much she relies on her quirk. 

“What were you thinking!?” Kyouka said as she crossed her arms. “One time I’m not watching you and then you go and do something stupid like that.”

“You really punch an energy wave?” Mina said in disbelief. “That’s awesome!”

“I knew you were strong, but I didn’t know you were at Deku’s level…” Uraraka pondered.

“Brute, you could have gotten yourself killed!” Weiss scowled before her eyes landed on Ruby. “And you, you could have gotten yourself killed too. Why do you always have to be so reckless?” 

Ruby was confused. Why was she getting berated? Yang was the one who double punched an energy wave. She should be the one who gets in trouble, but the more Ruby thought about it the more she liked the fact that Weiss cared about her. 

“Aww so you do care about me Weiss?” Ruby teased.

“W-what?!” Weiss stammered.

“Hmm, it seems’ she does care about you, there is no mistaking it.” Yaoyorozu said with mock suspicion. 

Weiss turned to Yaoyorozu. “Momo, do not start!”

Ruby laughed as she saw the blush cross Weiss’ features and then laughed even harder when Yaoyorozu patted her head like a child. 

“How many times have I told you not to do that?!” Weiss complained. “I seriously hate how tall you are.” 

“About two hundred fifty times and I know that’s why I do it.” Yaoyorozu said with a smirk. 

Ruby noticed Kyouka had her phone out that was pointed at the pair. A smirk played on her lips as she turned the device to show Weiss the picture of her getting patted. Ruby could already see the look on Weiss’ face. 

_Does Kyouka want to die?_

“I’m going to kill you Jirou!” She began as Ruby could see her fingers glowing. Kyouka just smirked as Yaoyorozu held Weiss back. She was lucky. 

“Okay now you just sounded like Bakugou, this is gold. “ Mina laughed out loud and patted Kyouka’s back as Yang leaned in to see the picture. 

Ruby smiled as she looked up at the sky. Thirteen was taken care of, Uncle Qrow was being taken care of and All Might was being healed. Yang assured everyone her burns would heal, but she might have to fix her gauntlets. 

A detective came over to them to count who didn't have major injuries. Once again Midoriya wasn’t with them. He was taken to Recovery Girl to heal his broken body. Sometimes she thought he was more reckless than Yang. Those two would get along well, if he could control his quirk. 

“At least Thirteen will be okay, I am scared for Aizawa-sensei though.” Yang said sadly.

“He’s a strong fighter, I believe he’ll be fine.” Blake said, making her way towards everyone with Tokoyami. Her eyes glaring at Weiss. 

No one else seems to notice but Ruby. She wondered why Blake looked so angry. She knew they were rivals in a way, but Blake never looked at her with such hatred. It worried her; she didn’t want anyone in her class to hate someone. They already have that with Bakugou and Midoriya, and they didn’t need more. 

“Everyone, get on the bus,” Iida announced, “We are heading back to class.”

Iida was still uptight as ever. Ruby thought as she walked with the rest of them into the bus. She still felt something was about to happen. She looked back at the building before turning around to run with the rest of her class back to school. 

* * *

It was Saturday morning. The sun shined brighter than usual on Yang’s eyes. She groaned and turned on her bed to look at her alarm clock. It was now 10:30 am. School had decided to close since the incident. She got up to stretch, then looked at her hands. 

When they got back to school Yang’s bandages were taken off. The burns had healed, but left quite a mark on her knuckles and wrists. Mina thought they looked badass, Kirishima said it was manly, and Ruby thought it was cool. She sighed as she got up to shower and brush her teeth. 

As she got into the shower, Yang couldn’t help but think about what happened. It was still so surreal. Real villains came and had wanted to kill them. The head villain acted like a nutcase and the warped guy had such a crazy powerful quirk. Then there was the horned man, he was different. He appeared saner than the decaying guy. It was almost like seeing a version of her? It was strange. She didn’t like the idea of someone else possessing the same kind of quirk. 

She washed her hair, rinsed it out and then brushed her teeth. When she was done with her hair she walked back to her room. On her bed her phone lit up with messages. 

_Who’s texting me now?_

Yang opened her phone and sighed as she saw the Bad 4 group chat with ten messages. 

_This has to be Mina’s idea…_

She opened it and sure enough the group chat was made by Mina Ashido. 

> _**Mina Ashido: where my girls at!** _
> 
> _**Kyouka Jirou: really this early and this name?** **  
> ******_
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: It’s 10:55 it’s not that early** _
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: and yes** _
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: I wanted to ask if you all want to go to the mall!** _
> 
> _**Blake Belladonna: sure. I could use a mindless activity after yesterday. Besides there is a book store I’d like to check out.** _
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: lame..we should go to the movies and then shop for some clothes.** _
> 
> _**Kyouka Jirou: how about both? I’d like to check out that music store.** _
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: are you saying yes?** _
> 
> _**Kyouka Jirou: yeah, belladonna is right, we need something to get our minds off of it.** _

Yang thought for a while before she typed out her reply. She would love to do something that made her forget about yesterday. They all needed a break and she did want to check out a sports store and buy some new outfits. 

> _**Yang Xiao Long: hey I’m down to! what time should we all meet?** _

She waited for the response, then got eight at the same time. 

> _**Mina Ashido: finally you responded** _
> 
> _**Kyouka Jirou: cool** _
> 
> _**Blake Belladonna: I guess it's settled then** _
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: yay :3** _
> 
> _**Kyouka Jirou: don’t do that…** _
> 
> _**Blake Belladonna: lets meet at 11:30** _
> 
> _**Mina Ashido: Awesome!** _
> 
> _**Kyouka Jirou: ...fine** _

Yang smiled and laughed at the response and sent her okay. She went into the closet and took out some clothes before she finished brushing her hair. She pulled on a black tank-top, blue ripped jeans cuffed at the bottom, a jacket and some accessories. 

She winked at herself, then turned around to go downstairs to greet Ruby. Her sister, still in her pajamas, was eating omurice. Ruby smiled at her and asked, “Where you going?” 

Yang paused and bit her lip. She couldn’t lie to Ruby but it could hurt her. 

“I’m going out with some of the girls in our class.”

“Ohh, well have fun!” Ruby said with a smile, and continued to eat her breakfast. 

“Wait what?” Yang said. “You’re not mad?” 

Ruby looked at her weirdly, then laughed a bit. “Of course not silly, you have friends for the first time in a while Yang. It makes me happy that you are having fun.”

“Bu--”

“No but’s, go!” Ruby said with finality. 

Yang sighed and turned around to leave, She opened the garage in the shed and took out Bumblebee. She put on her yellow helmet and put the red one into the back compartment. She took a breath, revved up her bike and made her way to the mall. Mina sent the directions to her earlier, though looking at the state of traffic, she might have to bend some rules to get there. 

* * *

Crowded places were always a pain to deal with. She wasn’t a timid person, she just hated being around too many people. Blake leaned against the entrance to ‘Wookies’, the Kiyashi-Ward’s shopping mall Ashido had suggested. She had gone here before, mostly for clothes but also for a certain bookstore that held all her favorite horror and romance series. Adam hated her for going here, he used to watch her shop and it made her feel uncomfortable. He said it was for her safety. 

_Safety my ass, he just wanted to keep me under his thumb._

She dwelled further into her past when she suddenly heard someone call out her name. Her given name. With an annoyed expression she looked up to meet black eyes with honey iries. 

“Oh finally. I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now.” Ashido said with her usual bright smile. 

“You called me by my given name.” She deadpanned.

“Lighten up! We’ve been friends for a week now. Might as well cut the formalities.” 

Blake mulled over those words. Her eyes went from Ashido to Jirou. She just shrugged her arms in response. It seemed Mina had gotten to her as well. 

“Fine, you can call me that, but I won’t stop calling you Ashido.”

“Same.” Jirou agreed. 

“You guys are so mean!” Ashido whined. “You call Yang by her given name. We all do, let's all be friends and just stop with the stupid surnames.”

She made a good point, they all do call Yang by her name. With a sigh of defeat she looked back at Mina and gave her a small smile. 

“You’re stubborn Mina, you know that?” She said as she got up from the wall. 

“I know! Now let's go have fun!”

Jirou just rolled her eyes and pointed out that Yang wasn’t there yet. With that they waited another fifteen minutes which passed their meetup time. Yang finally ran up to them and caught her breath. Her body gleamed with sweat and her hair was all over the place. Blake smirked at her as she tried to manage the wild mane. 

“Why don’t you just put it up? it must be better than always fixing it.” She teased.

“I look way hotter with it down, and we all know that!” Yang said with a smile as she put her hand back to her side. Blake couldn’t help notice the biker gloves. 

“There she goes again with her ego, we get it you’re hot. You don’t need to remind us.” Jirou groaned as she looked down at her phone with boredom. 

“You think I’m hot?” Yang said with a smirk and started to flex her muscles. 

Blake giggled to herself as she watched Jirou’s face turn red and stutter at Yang’s remark. The shorter girl got up and punched Yang on the arm telling her to shut up. Yang just looked down at her and continued to tease. She couldn’t blame her. Jirou walked into that one herself. 

“Okay enough flirting you two, it's time to hang out and do mindless shit!” Mina announced as she pointed towards the mall. 

They all settled down and walked into the mall. Blake smiled at Yang’s reaction, she probably never been here before. She looked around before turning back to everyone else, trying her best to seem unimpressed

“This better be worth it, It took me a while to find a parking spot.” Yang sighed. 

“What! Why did you drive here, hello there is a bullet train!?” Mina said in shock. 

“She got banned from taking the train when she was younger.” Jirou said and smirked. 

Blake looked at Yang and chuckled at the expression on her face. She was blushing so hard it almost matched her eyes when she activated her quirk.

“Wow Yang what did you do?” Mina deadpanned. 

Yang sighed and pouted at Jirou briefly who only shrugged. Blake knew this was her revenge on the joke Yang pulled earlier on. It was how they interacted most of the time. Though Blake couldn’t help but wonder how close they’d become throughout the week. They seem to be really comfortable around each other lately. 

_Wait why do I even care?_

“I accidentally pushed someone really hard with my quirk and caused other people before them to fly out of the windows….” She admitted her cheeks were still burning red. 

“Oh my god, well that explains the motorcycle. That you still owe me a ride on!”

“It’s only the first week of school Mina, chill.” Yang said as she rolled her eyes. 

Blake noticed Jirou looked to the side with a slight blush on her face. She appeared uncomfortable with the current topic. Which was odd because everyone knew that Mina wanted to ride the bike. She just shook her head and then saw the bookstore that she wanted to check out. 

“That’s the bookstore I was talking about, any of you want to join me?” She asked. 

“Sure! I love to read, just not the shit at school!” Yang said with a bright smile. 

“I guess? That place also has good band posters and retro stuff.” Jirou shrugged and put her phone into her shorts pocket. 

“Why do you guys have to be so lame, I should've asked Ejirou and Kaminari to hang out instead.” Mina groaned as she placed her hand on her forehead. 

“Just because we like to read doesn’t make us lame, reading is fun Mina.” Blake teased as the rest of them walked to the bookstore called ‘The Dark Circle’.

“Why is it so dark here?” Mina asked as they walked into the small bookstore. “ Wait, You took me into a goth place!”

“She finally figured it out.” Jirou said with a smirk. “Though it’s more rock if you actually look around.”

Blake nodded as she made her way to her usual section. The bookstore had band posters from the Sixties to Nineties. Bands like Nirvana, the Clash, The Whos and of course Led Zeppelin. They also play good music on the speakers so when she reads in here it's usually with a nice background. 

She sensed someone approach her and looked up to see Yang look at one of the books with interest. She pulled out one by random and started to skim it. 

“Find something you like?” Blake asked.

“Maybe, I like the prologue from what I read.” She said softly and moved her eyes to Blake’s. “So, you’re into horror huh?” 

Blake hummed and nodded her head. She continued to search the section and could hear Jirou trying to explain to Mina each of the bands that were on the posters. She smiled as Mina looked interested. This was much better than anything that happened yesterday. Especially regarding Adam or Todoroki.

_On the other hand I trust Todoroki to not say a word. He hasn’t come to me about it since we got back to school. I take it he doesn’t care which is nice. I hate that kind of attention._

With that thought in mind Blake found the book she wanted and went to the register. Jirou had three posters in her arms, Mina had one, and Yang had the book she was looking at before. They all paid using their money and then went out to get some food and discuss where else they should go. 

* * *

Once they got their food and settled in some seats, they talked about the hero news and how each of them had been doing since yesterday. Yang showed off her burned marks on her hands and told them they healed after letting them rest. Kyouka and Blake frowned at how casual she was acting about it. Yang informed them that she burned herself a lot when she was younger, telling them it wasn’t just her clothing back then. 

Kyouka still eyed them in concern, then looked up once she heard Mina declare they would see a movie of her choice after lunch. This made everyone look at her in disbelief. She reminded them that they dragged her into the bookstore so it was her turn to pick what they do next. Kyouka could only sigh. Just by looking at Mina she knew exactly what they were going to see. 

_A damn chick flick. There is no way she’d want to see anything else. Girl is too into gossip and romance. If we’re lucky it will be an action movie._

“What exactly do you want to see?” Yang asked with curiosity as she leaned in on the table. 

“Well there is this movie called ‘Within a Heart That Lies’! It looks super good! With action and everything." Mina said excitedly. "That or ‘The Match’, a dystopian thriller of a world where quirkless and quirk users have to fight each other to survive or something like that Ejirou recommended it!” 

Kyouka didn’t like either. The first one seems interesting though, the second sounded too violent, not that she doesn’t like that kind of stuff, just that it sounded kind of political. 

“The first one sounds interesting.” Belladonna said as she sipped her bubble tea. 

“Yeah, the second seems like a cheap gimmick kind of thing.” Yang said. 

“I agree with Yang.” Kyouka muttered as she looked down at her phone to see more articles pop up about the incident. Some photos were of her and other students. They were all in their costumes and beat up. Yang and Ruby had the worst injuries besides Midoriya. 

“Yang did Ruby get her arm healed?” She asked as she looked up while getting out of her seat.

“Oh yeah she did right after Midoriya came out of Recovery Girl’s room,” Yang explained.“Though she was warned about her quirk. She needs to really memorize the bone structure in order to be the hero she wants to be. “ 

Kyouka nodded her head. That’s good, it was hard to look at Ruby while everyone made their way back to class. Something about seeing a girl younger than her with a nasty injury didn’t sit well with Kyouka. In a way, she was rather protective of her. Much like everyone else in Class 1-A after the first week. 

_It felt like it's been a month of training though. Everything is going way too fast. Each day gets crazier and crazier._

“Okay it’s settled then lets see the movie!” Mina cheered as everyone following her lead.

Once they got to the movie theater in the mall, they each paid for their tickets and got some popcorn, drinks and candy before making their way to the theater number. Mina tugged Belladonna to the middle and Yang and her followed until all of them sat down. Before the movie started they all talked among themselves. Yang turned her head to Kyouka and smiled as she spoke about the mixtape she made for her. 

“I blasted it in my room for hours, it was really good, I enjoyed it a lot. Deep Dope may become a favorite of mine next to Pink Floyd.” She said excitedly as her eyes brightened once she talked about the drummer. 

All Kyouka could do was blush a bit and smile at Yang. She was so nervous about the whole thing, and it made her happy that Yang now liked Deep Dope. “Maybe one of these days we can go to one of their concerts, we can bring the other two as well.”

“Great idea, when we have downtime, that is, cause hero training.” Yang replied and smiled wider.

Kyouka nodded and took another pocky stick out of it’s box. She turned her head to the screen as Yang spoke to Belladonna a bit before the movie started. Once the movie started they all quieted down and watched. 

It was actually alright, Kyouka had to admit, it had a plot so far and some funny scenes. She glanced to see the other girls and saw Mina was really into it, Belladonna looked mildly bored and Yang looked like she was fighting off the urge to sleep. Kyouka guessed the plot wasn’t complex enough for her. She turned back around and continued to watch while eating some of her popcorn. 

Okay the movie took a bad turn in the end killing the love interest like that. Kyouka winced when she saw all the blood on the woman. When the ending credits began the lights came on in the room, and to everyone’s surprise Yang was sleeping on her chair, her mouth slightly open and legs spread apart. 

“Okay who’s gonna wake her? Not it!” Mina said quickly. Belladonna followed afterwards, leaving Kyouka to do it. 

“Oh come on!” She said, annoyed as she got up to stretch.

“Ya snooze ya loose.” Mina said with a toothy grin. 

“Fine” Kyouka muttered and used her jack to shock Yang a little. There was no way she was gonna touch her in that state. 

“Gah!” Yang jumped as she felt the jack vibrate too hard on her cheek. “What was that for!?”

“To wake you up.” Kyouka shrugged. Behind her she could hear Belladonna and Mina laugh.

“That was mean.” Yang mumbled as she rubbed her cheek. 

“Sorry…” Kyouka apologized and looked away. 

She didn’t like to see Yang upset especially if it was her doing. She reached her hand out to help the blonde up. It was the least she could offer after doing that. Yang accepted it with a smile and as soon as she was at her full height they all exited the theater. 

As soon as they did they began to shop for clothes at the stores they were interested in. They all talked about interests and sometimes boys, courtesy of Mina. Yang didn’t talk much about that nor did Belladonna. Kyouka figured they just weren’t interested in that kind of stuff. Yang had even tried to change the subject to food instead. Apparently her favorite food was dim-sum. 

“Agrh I don’t want to talk about food! You guys can’t tell me none of you are interested in any of the guys in our class?” Mina complained. 

“None of us are interested in anyone in our class Mina.” Kyouka repeated. 

“You want to tell me you aren’t interested in Kaminari?” Mina suggested. Which caused Yang and Belladonna to look at her. 

“I just met him! No oh my god, look he’s easy to talk to, but not my type.” Kyouka admitted and glared at Mina. 

“Yeah Mina boys and girls can be friends and not be attracted to each other.” Belladonna agreed. Okay the more Kyouka got to know her the more she liked her. She was really cool. 

“Oh what about you and Tokoyami or Todoroki.” Mina countered. 

Kyouka waited at that. Belladonna had been quiet about her time with Todoroki yesterday. Neither of them spoke about their battles at the landslide arena. 

“Seriously? Me and Fumikage are just friends and I barely know Todoroki.” Blake deadpanned and rolled her eyes. 

The only person that didn’t talk was Yang, she was rather distracted to something else. Then again she did try to change the subject before. Kyouka glanced up at her with wonder, only to be caught. She turned around quickly to avoid the embarrassment. 

After another hour of hanging out the four decided to walk to Yang’s parking spot. They said their goodbyes and the girl revved up her bike. Mina, her and Belladonna went to the train station while carrying their new stuff. 

* * *

It was Monday and everyone had come in early except for Blake. Yang waited for her friend to open the door and walk in. When she did her mouth fell open at the gauze on Blake's cheek and the wraps peeking from under her blazer sleeve. Everyone else watched with wonder as she made her way to her desk. 

“Should I start worrying about you coming into class with injuries everyday now? Why didn’t you go to Recovery Girl.” Yang said, upset. 

“I don’t want to always rely on her. I’m fine.” Blake replied as she took the book she got from Saturday out of her bag. “Aizawa-sensei had given me a pack of gummies last Thursday in case I over trained myself.” 

“You must be doing a tough training course if you almost injured your arm Belladonna. I welcome it! Your manliness is shining today.” Kirishima said behind her. 

Blake rolled her eyes and the subject soon changed about the news last night. Apparently they were on it. Pictures of each of them in groups. Yang didn’t like her picture that had her near Qrow and Ruby. If someone in the press started to spy on either her or Ruby the world would find out about their connection to Qrow. It would be terrible, they’d try to spy on him at home when he’s with the family. That was the last thing Yang needed right now. 

“We’re totally big deals, we’re basically celebrities now.” Kaminari boasted as he leaned back and turned his head towards Blake, winking at her. In return she glared at him. 

“Yeah it’s kinda crazy, huh?” Kirishima said as he let his attention go to Kaminari. 

“Get over yourselves, the hero course that pumps out pros was attacked. That’s all they care about.” Kyouka informed both the boys. 

“That and the relationship Omen may have with Xiao Long and Rose.” Sero said behind Yang. She froze at his words. 

He wasn’t wrong a lot of the news channels had been talking about Omen and the two girls. The picture that was taken of them had Qrow giving both Yang and Ruby a soft smile. He had his arms around both of them in a semi hug. Yang wished she crushed the photographer’s camera who took it. If she had none of the rumors would have started. 

“It’s just a stupid report Sero, only crazy fans of his will dive into conspiracies regarding the relationship. It’ll go by.” Kyouka said, twirling one of her jack’s like a lock of hair. 

Sero looked like he was about to argue, but realized she had a point. Yang was so thankful for her friends. She let her eyes go to Kyouka and thanked her silently. Kyouka gave her a small smile in return. Then Sero spoke about the teachers and Mineta had a breakdown. 

“AH, SHUT UP! GROW A FUCKING PAIR LOSER!” Bakugou shouted what everyone was thinking. 

The topic swiftly went to the fight between Nomu and All Might. One Yang would never forget. She knew she still had some distrust towards the man, but maybe he was being manipulated by the commission. He was truly a good man, he saved her and everyone despite using too much of his quirk and energy. She didn’t tell any of this to Taiyang, neither did Ruby. They both knew how he could get, especially when he came home around eleven. 

“EVERYONE! CLASS IS ABOUT TO START SOON GET TO YOUR SEATS!” Iida yelled as he ran to his seat. 

“Everyone is already in their seats dude.” Kaminari deadpanned, causing Iida to silently fume in the back. 

Mina leaned back in her seat a little too much as she asked Tsuyu if Aizawa-sensei was going to teach the class today. This was the first time Yang witnessed her being flustered. It was quite the spectacle. She noticed Arc leaning forward towards Ruby and Yang could hear their conversation. The two were quite close, she noticed. 

“You don’t think he’s crazy enough to come to class with his injuries right?” He asked as he noticed people staring at him. He leaned back on his chair and almost hit Iida.

“He’s a pro-hero! He would totally come back!” Ruby said with a bright smile. 

As if on cue the door opened and revealed the injured teacher. Everyone was shocked at what they saw. 

“Morning class.” Aizawa-sensei grumbled under the bandages. 

“ Sensei, What are you doing here!?” Everyone yelled. Ruby was right, he really wasn’t going to let his injuries prevent himself from teaching them. It was really noble in a painful way. 

“Sensei! I am glad you are okay!” Iida said excitedly. 

“You think that’s okay…” Uraraka said behind him in disbelief. Yang couldn’t blame her, the guy looked like a walking mummy. 

“My well-being is irrelevant.” Aizawa-sensei muffled and finally made it to his desk. “What’s more important is that your fight isn’t over yet.”

Yang sighed as everyone began to speculate. Their teacher had a habit of scaring the shit out of everyone. Though she understood why. The reactions are pretty hilarious. 

“The U.A Sports Festival is about to start.” Aizawa-sensei said with a deadly voice. 

the entire class cheered at that. Yang felt her lips twitch into a broad smile. Taiyang had allowed her and Ruby to watch the U.A Sports Festival. It was one of the only things he allowed in the house related to his old school. She always enjoyed watching all the students fight using their quirks, and wanted to one day be there. Now was her chance. 

Yang looked down at her hands and could feel the burned marks she acquired tingle with excitement. She let her eyes go towards her friends seeing their reactions. Blake had a smirk on her face, Ruby was shaking in her seat, Kirishima was about to shout, but then Kaminari and Kyouka made everyone remember the U.S.J. incident. 

_As much I hate to admit it, she has a point. It is kinda dangerous to do this right after we all almost died fighting villains._

Thankfully Aizawa-sensei gave a good response. The school wanted the world to know everything had been taken care of and this would be a great way to show that. When Mineta asked why, Yang couldn’t keep herself from rolling her eyes. Even she knew this was a huge opportunity for heroes in training. 

“That’s right, and top heroes everywhere will be watching. This is where you get scouted for an agency.” Yaoyorozu said from the back. 

“Of course not all of you will be able to even get that kind of opportunity.” Schnee said afterwards with a smirk on her face. 

Yang was about to turn her head when Kaminari started to speak about how some become sidekicks, right before Kyouka gave him a massive diss. She couldn’t stop herself from laughing at his reaction. Yang knew he wasn’t a dumb guy, he was rather smart. Kyouka should give him more credit. 

“That’s why this Festival is important, if you want to go pro, this is where it starts”. Aizawa-sensei said finally. “Now, class dismissed. “


	8. Train to Control Your Power

A commotion outside caused everyone to look up from what they were doing. Everyone was getting ready to go to lunch when suddenly at least a hundred students came to block the door of their class. Yang was too involved in a conversation with Pyrrha, Blake, Yaoyorozu and Kyouka to completely notice Bakugou standing at the front with an annoyed expression. She got up from the desk and went to where Ruby was standing with the Iida, Uraraka, Kirishima and Midoriya. 

She was taken aback by the amount of people who stood out there. Though she wasn’t surprised. They were in the news after all and the Sports Festival was announced to every class. She watched Bakugou tell them off and rolled her eyes when he called them extras. 

_I swear he really needs to stop, he's going to cause everyone to hate us more..._

Sure enough a tall purple-hair guy along with a dark green-haired girl made their way to the front. They both looked unimpressed at Bakugou and the rest of them. Pyrrha had made her way next to Yang and tried to make the situation calmer. The two students at the front of the crowd didn’t seem to care. 

“So, we heard you guys were impressive, but you sound like an ass, is everyone in your class an egomaniac?” The purple-haired boy said while the one with green-hair rolled her eyes. 

“You guys should know that most of us aren’t just scouting the competition, we are also looking to replace you.” She smirked at them. Yang looked around to see Midoriya and Mineta shook from those words. 

“If we impress the teachers of the hero course with our abilities in the festival then they could easily transfer us into one of the classes as my friend just said. We’ll be replacing you.” The boy said with the same neutral expression as earlier. 

Yang would honestly not mind someone replacing Mineta. He seemed to be a coward unlike the others. From what Mina and Uraraka told her, even Jaune had been brave during the U.S.J attack. She clenched her fist at the green-haired girl, her eyes were ruby red and gleamed with mystery. 

Pyrrha walked forward and smiled at both of them. She was nothing like Bakugou and she wanted to calm the tension that the boy had caused. Yang admired her courage. 

“I apologize for our classmates behavior, he tends to be rather reckless when it concerns anything with competition.” She began as the purple-haired boy seemed to not care. While the green haired girl went in front of him. 

“We don’t need your apology, just understand this is a declaration of war. We aren’t here to play games. We are here to say that you better watch yourself otherwise you’ll be kicked out of the heroes course.” She looked at all of them with fire in her eyes. Just what was she hiding? She seemed really confident in her abilities for some reason. 

Yang noticed Pyrrha was taken aback and was even annoyed. She narrowed her eyes at the other girl and stepped back. Bakugou then made his way past everyone, ignoring the conversation between the two girls. 

“Hey! Where are you going, ya gotta say something. It’s your fault Bakugou that everyone hates us.” Kirishima said suddenly. “At least Nikos is trying to de escalate things. Say something dude!”

“These people don’t matter,” Bakugou said finally. 

“Huh?” Kirishima said, annoyed. 

“The most important thing is that I’ll beat them.” Bakugou declared and walked out without a care.

Yang just stood there after he left. Kirishima started to cry a little and she looked at him with concern.

“I hate to admit, that was a really manly exit.” He finally said. 

Yang had to steady her body a little so that she didn’t fall over. Kirishima was a nice guy and they seemed to get each other a lot, but right now his fascination with Bakugou was getting to her. 

“He wasn’t wrong though.” Blake said next to her. Yang almost jumped. That girl can be so fast sometimes. 

“We do have to beat them.” Tokoyami said behind her. Yang stared at the crow faunus when he looked at Blake in front of him. He was staring at her cheek. As if he knew where she got it. 

_Mina really did have a point. Just what’s up with their relationship?_

Ruby agreed with both of them, much to her surprise. She looked really pumped and determined for the competition. Yang wondered if she would even be allowed. Considering how dangerous her quirk was, and how young she was, the teachers may forbid it. 

She patted Ruby’s head and pushed her to be with her friends. Right now Yang needed to think of training regimes. She wanted to win this thing, and she needed to be in tiptop shape. 

* * *

Ruby walked with Midoriya, Uraraka and Iida. They were all discussing the tournament together. Uraraka told them her reason for becoming a hero earlier today and Ruby felt a lot of sympathy for her. She wondered if she should tell them her reason. She didn’t want the attention though. She had enough of that with some of the students asking her about her relationship with Uncle Qrow. She winced at the thought of his secret coming out. He was a very private pro-hero, and no one knows about his life outside of the spotlight. 

“We’re all going to have to train very hard!” Iida said proudly. 

“I’m so pumped, I can’t wait to work on my body. Hey! Rose, you want to train together sometime!?” Uraraka asked her. 

She nodded enthusiastically at the offer. Ruby really wanted to get to know Uraraka beyond just school mates. She looked like a really reliable and great person to be friends with. 

“Sure! I’d love to train with you! ” She replied. 

“Great!” 

Ruby smiled and turned to look at Midoriya only to see him stop walking. She got concerned at how deep in thought he was in. She leaned in to tap his shoulder only to cause him to jump at the contact. She apologized and laughed a little at his expression. 

“Sorry you looked so out of it.” She said. 

“I-It’s fine, I was just thinking. We all really need to be ready, if we are going to beat everyone.” 

Ruby wasn’t going to argue with that. All of them needed to do their all for the competition. She smiled at him and patted his shoulder. She watched him wince at her touch and pulled back. He was such a strong guy but really needed to learn how to take a simple affection. 

* * *

It was annoying that she couldn’t contact her boss yet, but she had to continue to play the student at the moment, besides she was with Shinsou. Due to the similarity between their quirks they had become unlikely friends during her time here.

Emerald sighed as she walked beside him. They both were determined to do well in the festival but she also had a job to send information about the Heroes Course to her boss. She smiled as she thought of how much praise she would get from her boss if she did this right. She had been a thief for as long as she could remember, stealing anything from the rich to survive poverty. It was a rough time and she was only a kid back then. 

_Stop thinking about that, it's over now. She saved you, you’re safe now._

Emerald shook her head and clenched her fists, attempting to chase the memories away. She looked up at Shinsou and asked him if he was going to be training for the festival as well. She didn’t want to be too close to him, but she was curious about his agenda. 

“Of course I am, I also have a plan. If you’re interested in it?” He said with a bored expression. 

Emerald smirked. Shinsou was a very smart guy. The students in the heroes course didn’t know what they had just got themselves into. Shinsou and her were serious when they said they would replace one of them. She couldn’t wait to see them surprised by how skilled both of them were. Shinsou was a much better person to work with than Mercury, less arrogant and easier to talk to. 

“That Bakugou, he really is a piece of work.” He complained as he looked ahead. 

“Nikos is a lot more annoying in my opinion, she thinks being nice will stop people from putting a target on her back. It’s truly pathetic.” Emerald scoffed as she looked up at him. 

“Maybe, but she’s the only genuine one. She seems to be there to save people, without any alternative reason. I couldn’t really find anything in her actions. She truly just wanted to stop the argument.”

Emerald frowned and turned back to the street-corner. She didn’t like Nikos at all. The girl felt like she was better than everyone. The way she held herself and tried to be noble just rubbed her the wrong way. It was just too much for Emerald to handle. All humans had an alternative reason to be what they were, no exceptions.

_Even All Might..._

Anger suddenly bubbled up inside her after that came to mind. Just the thought of the guy made her tightened the hold on her bag. Where was he when she needed help after her mother died? Where was he when she needed help when she had to fight in the streets to survive? 

_Some guy, he just goes for the most impossible things to get coverage on. He never thinks about the gritty underbelly of the city he protects. None of them do._

Emerald’s frown deepened after that. She truly despised heroes and didn’t want to be here. This was just a undercover mission for her. 

“What’s the plan? Whatever you have in store I’m in.” Emerald said finally as she stared at her friend? Acquaintance? She didn’t know what Shinsou was to her. They’d bonded together in the first week and seemed to vibe well together. He just gets her. It was weird but nice if she was being honest.

For the first time since they met he gave her a small smile and told her to follow him to a coffee shop they were about to pass. She raised her eyebrows when suddenly her cell started to ring in her coat pocket. She panicked sightly before giving Shinsou an apologetic smile. Emerald then ran to the nearest alleyway and looked around before she put the phone to her ear as a sultry voice greeted from the other side. 

**_“The Sports Festival, you know what to do right?”_ **The woman's voice asked curtly. 

“Yes, I just have to get myself into the tournament part, once I get to the finals I’ll commence the plan.” Emerald affirmed her boss carefully. 

**_“Excellent. I know you won’t disappoint me, because if you do you know what happens.”_ **

A shiver went up her spine at the low tone that met her ear. Emerald knew exactly what would happened if she or Mercury screwed up their missions. She could already feel the burn of the whip on her back. 

“I understand, I won’t fail you.” She nodded stiffly.

When the call ended Emerald took a deep breath. That woman scared the hell out of her sometimes. If it wasn't for her hard upbringing she'd be dead by now. She was damn lucky that her acting was seemingless, otherwise this whole thing would of ended up disastrous. As her heart steadies itself Emerald finally turned her body and walked back to where Shinsou was waiting. When she got there she couldn’t help but laugh at the sign that had a cat on it. Of course he’d pick this kind of cafe. 

“Really?” She asked, sarcastically. 

“It’s nice, you’ll like it. Now do you want to hear the plan or not?” He said with the same neutral expression as before. 

Emerald shrugged at him and walked inside the trippy cafe. Sure enough there were cats everywhere. She wanted to get the hell out of there. It was too cute for her liking. The things that she did for The League of Villains'. 

_I really should get paid for all this crap._

* * *

She wiped her forehead as she finished being flipped by the girl above her. Momo looked up at Pyrrha who looked down at her with a smirk. Pyrrha was the tallest girl in their class. She was 5’11 to Momo’s 5’8. She was also in the best shape even more so than Xiao Long and Valkyrie

Pyrrha reached out her hand and Momo gladly took it. She was pulled back onto her feet and brushed the imaginary dirt from her gym uniform pants. Momo looked at Pyrrha who recovered her breathing a while ago and couldn’t help admire the redhead. 

“Best three out of four?” Momo asked.

“One more, but then you have to train on your own. I don’t want you to know all of my fighting tactics Momo.” Pyrrha replied and drank from her water bottle. 

Momo knew that. She just wanted to get better at fighting at a faster pace. Pyrrha wasn’t as fast as Belladonna or Iida, but she was still very quick. 

The two stared at each other and ran to the middle, the kick from Momo was blocked by Pyrrha’s arm. She then felt the other girl duck and soon her feet were swept from under her. Momo put her hands to the ground and cartwheeled away before Pyrrha could hit her stomach. She analyzed the way Pyrrha’s legs would often do that trick, and used it to her advantage. What Momo didn’t see coming was the girl to move the same direction she dodged, grab the front of her collar and then kick her into the air. 

Momo grunted. Pyrrha knocked the wind out of her and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She landed on her feet but then felt Pyrrha swipe her legs again, causing her to fall backwards. Momo groaned in pain, and stared up at the ceiling. She lost again for the fourth time. Why was she this bad at physical combat? It annoyed her. She was supposed to be good at everything, but learning martial arts isn’t the same as performing it. She gritted her teeth and smashed her fist against the mat. 

Pyrrha looked down at her with a frown and helped her up. They both sat down on the mat in silence. Momo wasn’t mad at Pyrrha, she was mad at herself. If she wanted to be scouted she needed to be stronger, and to do that she needed to rely less on her quirk and more on her body endurance. 

“I’m sorry.” Pyrrha said suddenly. She had a tendency to say that a lot. Both Weiss and her told her to stop. 

“You don’t need to apologise, it isn’t your fault you are an amazing fighter.” Momo sighed, and laid back down on the mat. “If anything it’s me that should apologize for being easy.”

“You are getting better.” Pyrrha argued. “You lasted against me even more than last time. It just takes time. You just need practice.”

“We only have two weeks, that’s not enough.” 

“Sure it is! Now get up, we’ll do one more and then work on our own training.” Pyrrha said with a smile on her face before she pulled Momo back up to her feet.

Pyrrha was a good person, she always saw the best in people. It was a trait she needed to lose if she wanted to be a pro, but the one Momo admired the most. 

* * *

She was about to faint at the amount of pain in her body. Taiyang wanted her to become even more immune to her quirk’s limit. So he had started to make her wear weights around her wrists, waist and ankles since Tuesday. Even during school and hero training she had to. 

Some of the girls questioned the bands on her when they were in the locker rooms. She told them it was a part of her training for the sports festival. Mina tried to lift her arm once and in the end she had to use both her own to lift it. 

“If you really want a pro to scout you, you have to start relying on your own strength to carry you. Your quirk can’t be the only thing that gives you your strength.” Taiyang said and put another fifty pound weight on top of her back while she was doing push ups in the backyard. 

“I know that, you don’t have to tell me.” Yang grunted as she continued to push her arms straight and bend them back down. 

It was now Thursday. He woke her up at four this morning before school so that he could test out how much she could carry with the weight bands around her body. He told her she needed to rely less on her quirk and more on her natural abilities. He’s been telling her that since she and Ruby told him about the festival.

It was strange to her that Taiyang had such an interest in this, it was almost like this festival was one of the good memories he had of U.A. 

“Concentrate, you can barely hold fifty pounds at this rate. I want you to get a thousand by next week.” He said calmly. 

Yang ignored him and continued to do the three hundred pushups he ordered her to achieve. It took her an hour, Taiyang was so disappointed. 

The next hour of this training was hand to hand combat with some quirk use. Taiyang had the same quirk as her though he uses it less and let the strength of his legs do the talking. Yang gripped her stomach at the pain her father gave her with just one kick. He stared at her with disappointment in his blue eyes. She didn’t want that pity. Not from the ex pro-hero Supreme Dragon. She charged him again, slower this time and punched him in the gut, the man smirked at her. It didn’t even cause him to activate his quirk. 

He then crouched down and pulled his arm back only to punch her hard in the stomach. She went flying in the air before she hit the tree in the woods behind her and that was just his strength alone. Yang winced as she held her stomach in pain. She had to beat him, he wasn’t going to be holding back himself for the rest of this endurance training. If she wanted to succeed she had to listen to him. 

_Fuck I can’t even breathe after that attack and its bruising up. Shit he didn’t have to send me flying like that._

“Now do you understand why I want you to rely on your own strength. These bands will help improve it as well as your agility. Now get up we haven’t finished.” He said calmly and looked down at her. Yang growled at his bluntness but grabbed his hand and began another spar. 

In the end she came into class with a gauze on her cheek and a few visible cuts and bruises on her legs. She never felt more alive though, her dad was finally taking her seriously. 

* * *

“Okay Kiddo we’re going to work hand to hand. I know you usually use your quirk to fight, but now that the festival is coming and Yang has been working with Tai. I think it's now time for me to teach you some basic bad luck moves against your opponents.” Uncle Qrow said to her as they stood in one of the battle grounds within the school. 

She had just finished training with Uraraka and Aoyama when her uncle came to them and asked to borrow her for a bit. They stood in front of each other in the deserted area, he kept his mask on in case people were spying. He’s been doing that a lot lately as well as not going home. Ruby understood though, the media has been hounding him about his relationship with the two girls from class 1-A and its been getting to all three of them. They know at this point they weren’t able to keep the secret any longer. 

Ruby nodded at Uncle Qrow and put her hands up. She watched as he stretched in front of her before he did the same. He smirked at her, Uncle Qrow knew that hand to hand was not her best. She lacked control on her footwork and always tended to injure herself with her quirk when it becomes too much. It usually ends with her quirk allowing her to win. 

The two gave each other small warnings before they both began. Ruby brought up her knee to his stomach but he caught it and flipped her to the air. She groaned and watched him disappear before she felt him kick her on her back straight to the ground. She landed with a thud and some gravel smashing. She groaned and looked up at him with a glare. 

“No fair, I thought you were gonna let me make a move?” She pouted. 

“Sorry kiddo, but you have to be ready no matter what. Even if you are hurt your opponent won’t give a damn, you need to be ready to dodge and attack at any given moment.” He argued and put his fists up. “Now go again.”

Ruby wiped the blood on her cheek and charged at him again. This time she used her fist to punch his chest. He crouched down and grabbed one of her legs before swinging her at one of the buildings. She crashed into the ruble and bit her lip hard. Blood flowed down her chin and she dropped. 

“Fiddlesticks.” She yelled as she panted on all four. She got up and wiped the blood from her chin and narrowed her eyes. “Lets go again, I want to beat you.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear! Come at me.” Uncle Qrow said with a smile. 

Ruby let out another battle cry and collided her fist to his cheek and she smiled when he only staggered. He looked at her without his mask on, eyes gleaming with excitement. They then charged each other for another spar. 

* * *

Two animals stood before her. Sweat dripped down her face as she continued to control them. She took one step, two steps, three steps and then they faded. Weiss groaned as she frowned. She needed to move when she summoned any of the creatures she had studied. Her sister could do this, why couldn’t she? Speaking of Winter, she was watching her from the distance while drinking her tea. 

“Three steps? I told you by the time of the sports festival I’d want you to be able to move freely. You know how important this is for your career Weiss.” She said with her cold voice. Winter was never good at showing affection towards her. She was more of the type that instructs than comforts. 

“I understand Winter, I will be able to move more freely while using my summons one day. I can assure you.” Weiss said with determination. 

“Maybe it’s time to work on your strength. I’ve seen your results in the physical and I was highly disappointed in the strength tests.” She said emotionless. Winter had learned earlier to keep her emotions hidden. Something Weiss was still learning. 

“We’re going to spar each other?” Weiss said hopefully. She had never done that with Winter, but it was something she had always wanted to do. She thought it would be a good bonding opportunity but had never had the guts to ask whenever she visited.

“I suppose? Though I’m not going to go easy on you, and you will have to fight against my summons as well as myself. “ Winter said and smirked. “If you’re up for it?”

Weiss didn’t hesitate and stood up from the ground. She went into a fighting position to show her sister she was ready. If she wanted to become a pro-hero like her she had to train everything including her weak body. A smirk played on her lips and she gave her sister the most confident answer she could have thought of. 

“I’m up for any challenge you throw at me, don’t hold back.”

With that, Winter had summoned two creatures at once and she charged at Weiss with full intent to beat her. Weiss smiled, ever since Winter had come by she felt less lonely. 

* * *

She concentrated hard as she looked at the metal plates before her. She hadn’t touched any of them prior to this moment. Pyrrha stood in front of them and lifted her arms to concentrate. She had been training to do this for a while, but had been distracted by her friends and the boy Jaune. 

It wasn’t like she didn’t want to help her friends, but she wanted to show the world just why she was dubbed Class 1-A’s Goddess of War. She was nice, but that wasn’t going to make her easy on anyone in her class. 

Pyrrha watched as one of the plates began to move on its own and smiled to herself as it began to move up from its place. It was only one right now, but she knew one was enough to start. She dropped it and wiped her brow with her towel. It was late and everyone wasn’t in this certain battleground. She had it all to her disposal and she knew she was going to not just improve herself physically but also emotionally. 

“Oh! I didn’t know someone was here already I’ll a-” A male voice called out. 

Pyrrha turned around to see Jaune Arc there. He held his hands up and tried to back away from her. She couldn’t help but giggle at his boyish behavior. 

“It’s fine, is there something you need?” She asked politely. 

“Ah, no I just wanted a place to train on my own. Though I see you have this area already,um” Jaune mumbled. 

“You can use it if you want, just please keep yourself a safe distance from me.” Pyrrha said with a kind smile. She didn’t want him to be around when she started to train to use her magnetic pulse. 

_It could hurt him if he is near the premises. I haven’t exactly taught myself how to do it yet but mother said it was an ultimate move within the Nikos family. So I must teach myself to do it._

“Oh, Yeah, yeah sure! I just wanted to improve my strength qualities since ya know the festival won’t be focusing a lot on quirk use.” He rubbed the back of his neck. It was rather adorable from what Pyrrha saw. 

She nodded and turned away from him. She sensed him watching her for a bit before hearing his footsteps quietly leave the area she was in. With a sigh Pyrrha focused again on the metal plates in the distance. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the magnetic aspects that they possessed, listening as the vibration of her quirk caught two of them. She opened her eyes and smiled, seeing the metal plates floating in the air before her. 

If she kept this up, she’d be able to use her quirk without touching metal to activate it. She couldn't wait for the festival, it was going to be an amazing experience! 

* * *

One touch and she would lose. It was a game of cat and mouse between them as they fought each other on the open beach. Nora glared at Ren as he jumped towards her again to touch her body. If he touched any of her exposed skin the chemical he produced would end up getting to her head causing her to become, for a lack of a better word, high. Ren was quick so she had to stay on her toes and only hit him where he wasn’t showing skin. 

_Easier said than done with him playing dirty and fighting me without a shirt. God he can be such an asshole sometimes._

“Come on Nora aren’t you going to punch me already.” He teased quietly. 

Nora rolled her eyes. Ren didn’t speak a lot, but when he was in the mood he didn’t shut up. She watched him go at her again and felt his bare foot hit her stomach. She fell to the sand, gasping for air. Ren really wasn’t holding back and she knew why. The Sports Festival was coming and they had to prove they were worthy of being heroes. 

They were the only orphans among the people at the entrance exam. They had to work double to survive and prove to society that they were worth something. To prove that they were not going down without a fight. 

With that in mind Nora sprung back to her feet and let the electricity crackle around her fists. She smirked at Ren and charged at him. He was ready, but so was she. She ducked and punched him in the groin. He howled and fell on his ass. If she couldn’t punch his chest or his legs, a low blow would more than suffice. It was, after all, the only logical option when it came to fighting those with chemical quirks. Girl or boy. 

“I’d say that was a K.O hmm?” She smiled down at her best friend. “Next time maybe you should wear some clothing so that I don’t have only one option.”

Ren who was on the ground rolled onto his back to glare at her. “You didn’t have to do it that hard though?”

“Oh yes I did, this is not a game Ren, like you said before, we have to be ready. I don’t want to lose to anyone. Especially if they look down at us like Bakugou and Todoroki.”

The way she said that surprised him. Nora wasn’t usually this serious but he knew that the way those boys looked at her really got on her nerves. Nora had friends in class, but having certain classmates actively pity her didn’t make it fun at times. Sure she was friends with Pyrrha but anyone was when they got to know her. She was the kindest out of the recommended students. She even helped Nora with her confidence after the battle trials. She was too kind and it made Nora feel terrible. She didn’t feel that she was strong enough to be Pyrrha’s friend. 

“I’m not here just to be a hero Ren, I want people to know who I am. I’m sick of being ignored.” She finished her eyes burned with determination. 

“Then let's continue.” Ren said with his own look of determination. 

* * *

After all these days the Sports Festival had finally arrived. Yang and Ruby excitedly woke up at five, raring to go. They both sparred with each other, Yang showing off her new strength. She smiled when Ruby went flying to the same tree she landed against when she first fought with Taiyang. 

“Wow Yang you’ve gotten super strong, everyone better be ready because that really hurt.” Ruby wheezed as Yang pulled her up. 

“Don’t use up all your energy girls, you need all of it when you fight today.” Taiyang said from the house. “I cooked you a protein meal, go eat it and get to school.” 

Yang rolled her eyes. He helped her a lot but Taiyang was still a crummy dad. Maybe not as bad as others, seeing as he was at least trying. Still he only trained her so that she didn’t get herself injured again. She looked down at her hands and frowned. He yelled at her that night, telling her she was as reckless as her mother. When she asked follow up questions Taiyang just went back to his study. He always did when he didn’t know what to say. 

“Yang lets go! We have to be there at seven!” Ruby yelled. 

Yang nodded her head and walked with her hands in her pockets. She shouldn’t think about the past. She needed to think about now and how she was going to win this Sports Festival. She smirked to herself as she pictured her victory. 

They met up with Qrow and spoke to him during breakfast. Qrow informed them that he’d be in security and would be working with Mt. Lady and a pro-hero named Good Fisherman. He was rather excited about that. Though that was a given. Mt. Lady was one of the hottest female pro-heroes right now. Yang rolled her eyes, her uncle could be such an ass. 

After breakfast Yang drove herself and Ruby to school. She pulled her biker gloves further over her hands and felt the texture warm up her body. She had been wearing these a lot lately since the U.S.J incident. They covered her burned marks and kept people from staring. Not that she didn’t mind the stares, she would just rather avoid questions.

She looked down at her phone, checking the email that was sent to everyone in class. They were meeting somewhere different today. Yang looked at Ruby who gave her a bright smile. The two then made their way to meet up with the rest of their class, finding them easily thanks to the clearly marked signs. 

They stepped towards the door and opened it to greet the other early arrivals. Schnee, Pyrrha and Yaoyorozu were at their own table already in their gym uniforms. Kirishima and Bakugou were sitting at their own separate tables. Todoroki was against the wall, his eyes staring straight ahead as if he was thinking of someone. Yang wondered who. 

She and Ruby went into the girl’s side of the locker rooms and quickly changed into their uniforms. Yang then unzipped her jacket to show off her yellow crop top, giving herself more room to breathe. Ruby looked at her and immediately understood why. Yang needed to keep her body cool and it was going to be a hot day.

Once done they came out and were greeted by Mina, Kyouka, Blake, Tokoyami and Ojiro who had just arrived and gone to their lockers. When everyone was settled they all flocked to their usual groups. 

Ruby sat with Tsuyu, Midoriya and Uraraka while Yang was sitting with Blake, Mina and Kyouka. Her group all spoke to each other about their training. It was interesting to learn what the others had been doing. She smiled and explained that she had been focusing on strength training for the past two weeks. Mina asked why she hadn’t worked on her quirk as much. 

“My strength is a very important part of my quirk. I had to improve on it so that I could endure a lot more damage after I use a charged up attack. Plus I can also fight without using it for a longer period of time now. Just Like Pyrrha!” Yang said excitedly as she let her eyes go to the girl in question who smiled back. 

“Well then I look forward to fighting you Yang, you better not hold back.” Pyrrha said from her seat across from Weiss. 

“You’d better be prepared for a beatdown, I’m going to win this thing.” Yang said with a smirk. 

“OH SHUT THE FUCK UP BLONDIE, IF ANYONE IS GONNA WIN IT’S ME!” Bakugou shouted suddenly.

Yang let her eyes meet his red ones and laughed. He had no idea what he was getting into. Though no one here really did. Her training with an ex pro-hero was an ace up her sleeve. No one would even be able to begin suspecting anything, since Taiyang had all but disappeared from the planet when he retired. Now he just taught P.E at a normal high school. 

“Bakugou there are more powerful students in this class than you,” Blake said with a roll of her eyes as she put down her latest book. “Besides it’s Nikos who is going to wipe the floor with everyone.”

Pyrrha eyes widened and her cheeks reddened at the declaration. “Oh please do not involve me in this!” 

"As much as I hate to admit it she’s right.” Weiss began with a smile. “You got the highest praise besides Todoroki in battle trials because of your quirk and skill.”

“Agreed.” Yaoyorozu said softly, looking away with a scowl on her face. 

Yang could tell this was becoming tense and tried to think of anything to de-escalate it. She let her eyes go to Blake, only to roll them when her friend smirked to herself. Blake really loved to cause absolute chaos in their class from time to time. Yang nudged her with her arm. 

“You are awful.” She whispered. 

“Well someone has to be truthful, might as well be me?” Blake whispered back and turned another page in her book. 

Mina complained about not wearing her costume. Yang couldn’t help but be thankful for that. Her gauntlets needed work and she had no time to fix them because of all the training. She looked down at her gloves and balled them into fists as more of her classmates began to talk. 

“I wonder what they have in store for us in the first round.” Satou asked nervously. 

“No matter what they’ve prepared, we must persevere.” Tokoyami replied reassuringly before meeting Blake’s eyes briefly. 

Yang watched them closely as she wondered what Blake had done for her training. If the wraps around her forearms were anything to go by it must have been painful. She frowned. Blake had been getting hurt a lot lately after school. It wasn't just training, some of those wounds look like cuts from a blade or shots from a gun. 

_Just what the hell has she been doing lately. Vigilante work? Ha as if._

She was about to ask Blake about it when Iida came in and warned everyone they were about to get called soon. Yang sighed and closed her eyes. Guess she’d have to talk to Blake later. It was quiet for a second and Yang felt relaxed until Todoroki then suddenly went up to Midoriya. Yang watched with curiosity and confusion at how he spoke to him. Todoroki literally just made a declaration of war towards Midoriya. Hadn’t they already had enough of those? 

“Whoa what's the big deal Todoroki? Why are you picking up a fight all of a sudden?” Kirishima asked while putting his hand on the other boy. “Right before we are getting called too?”

Yang winced when Todoroki pushed him away and stated that no one was here to be each other's friends. She felt sudden anger and was just about to get up when someone beside her grabbed her by the jacket and pulled her back down. She turned with frustration at Mina who looked at her seriously.

“Don’t start another scene, there is already too much tension Yang.” She whispered harshly. 

Yang was about to object but felt something poke her cheek. She looked to see Kyouka shake her head from across the table. With a growl Yang stayed put as Midoriya spoke about everyone aiming to take their spots and how Todoroki was right about his powers. She wondered if any of the boys knew they also had the girls to worry about. She clenched her first and looked at her friends. 

“Listen,” She said seriously “I know I said I was going to beat everyone before, but now I’m not joking. I’m aiming for the top as well and so should all of you. None of us should hold back.”

Mina looked at her with determination in her eyes as Blake nodded her head. Kyouka, despite watching the situation with concern, agreed silently when Yang’s eyes met hers. 

“What!?” A high pitch sound came to everyone’s attention. 

Everyone turned around to see Ruby glare at Iida as they spoke near the door. He looked sad, while Ruby looked completely crestfallen. Yang wondered what Iida told her to make her that upset. He had a note in his hands, the contents of that note must be why Ruby was mad. 

“I’m sorry Rose, Aizawa-sensei tried, but the principal has requested you to not attend the Sports Festival due to your age and your quirk being dangerous.” 

“Everyone’s quirks are dangerous, just look at Midoriya or Yang o-or--” She began to stutter. “That’s not fair, I wanted to be scouted by a pro!”

Yang knew Ruby trained really hard for this, so to learn that she couldn’t compete just before the festival started was a really low blow. She watched as Ruby opened the door and slammed it. She was probably going to sit in stands that were reserved for their class. Yang put her head on the table as her friends tried to council her. 

“That’s so stupid, they really had to do this at the last minute? They should have told her before she trained.” Kyouka said, annoyed. 

“Maybe there is a way to convince principal Nezu that she could still be a part of it. I mean she is a part of our class no matter the age difference.” Mina said with a frown on her face. 

“It’s no use, they made their decision. They don’t want to be in trouble for someone below fifteen getting hurt.” Blake said solemnly, closing her book. 

The rest of the class just glared at Iida because of how insensitive he was. Ruby was still a part of their class. He should have at least tried to let her down gently. It felt different without the ball of energy that was Ruby Rose. Still Yang had to be ready, because the games were about to begin.

* * *

_Well that certainly killed the vibe. Idiots should of told her like a week ago. Seriously...how could Principal Nezu be so irresponsible with this decision?_

Kyouka sighed at the thought. They were all walking towards the entrance to the arena and no one felt happy about the fact that one of their classmates was disqualified due to their age. Kyouka frowned as she thought about the school's decision. Ruby was just as excited as anyone else and had just as much of a right to compete. It just baffled her that the younger girl couldn't be apart of something as important as the Sports Festival. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity after all.

Kyouka took a deep breath and placed her hand on the bridge of her nose to conceal her raging emotions. She let her eyes go to Yang to see if she was still upset but was surprised to see her friend looked fired up and focused with determination in her lilac eyes. Yang appeared to be moving forward from the Ruby dilemma which was a good thing since they had to be ready. They both wanted to show the world they were heroes and this festival was all about that. Excitement soon replaced Kyouka's nerves as the crowd becomes louder. She then noticed Yang's eyes were trained on the audience and followed her gaze to see Ruby who was sitting in Class 1-A's reserved spot. The younger one was screaming at their class to kick butt. Kyouka smiled to herself. Everyone was cheering but she could pinpoint Ruby's voice out of the mass thanks to her jacks. 

“She wants us to kick everyone's ass for her.” She said amused. 

“Oh we will, that’s a promise. I really want to kick Bakugou’s ass especially.” Yang said with a smirk forming on her face. “His ego needs a good bruising.”

“You’re one to talk.” Kyouka rolled her eyes and looked ahead. “Your egos are so similar that I often wonder if you two are related.”

“Don’t joke about that.” Yang groaned. “ Besides, the one that is probably related to him is Schnee.” 

Kyouka chuckled to herself as she remembered the girl's temper. Kaminari who was in front of her told her to focus and she stuck her tongue out in response. U.A just never lets anyone catch a break. It would be nice to take things slow, but then again that wasn’t how the high school worked. Everything was designed to give the heroes in training a challenge. No matter the consequences. 

As they got nearer to the stage all the students met with Midnight. Kyouka felt her cheeks redden as she stared at the hero. She hated how Midnight affected everyone in front of her especially with that god forsaken outfit. She lets her eyes go to Yang and noticed her face wasn’t blushing like everyone else's. Instead Yang looked at Midnight with disgust and annoyance. 

_She isn’t even fazed . Damn_

When they heard Bakugou’s name everyone froze as he made his way to the stage, hands in his pockets and a bored look on his face. Kyouka had a feeling that whatever he was going to say would only cause more trouble.

_One of these days someone has to put a muzzle on him to shut him up. I swear everyone is staring at us with hatred in their eyes. Maybe we weren’t here to make friends, but we aren’t here to make enemies either…_

“I just wanted to say that I’m going to win.” Bakugou announced with a bored expression to the whole arena as everyone in class 1-A cringed when half the UA students glared at them. 

Kyouka wanted to punch the egomaniac right then and there. However, Bakugou didn't care as he walked past Midoriya and purposely bumped into him before his attention turned towards Yang with narrowed threatening eyes. Kyouka felt uncomfortable by how long he glared at Yang as she just smiled in return. Her friend's eyes were closed with lips tightly shut. It took her a good while to remember where she saw that particular smile on her, but when she did Kyouka's eyes widened with concern. 

_Shit, that's the same smile Yang gave Mineta before she grabbed his balls and threw him to the back of the class. Bakugou really should be careful with her, I know he’s strong, but I honestly think Yang is a lot stronger. She’s been trained by Omen since she was a kid. She’s not someone you’d want as an enemy._

“Blondie, get ready to die.” Bakugou growled as he finally broke the silence and Kyouka's previous thoughts. 

“Oh Bakugou you really know how to charm the ladies.” Yang smirked dangerously her tone thick with sarcasm as her eyes now open, sparked with life. “Unfortunately you’re the one that should take caution. I’m a lot stronger than I was weeks ago, and I don’t need a charge to make you fly.”

Bakugou glared at her before he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and walked back to his place in front of Kirishima. If Kyouka didn’t know any better, she saw a smirk on his face with the same elation that emitted off of Yang. 

_Wait, was he excited to fight her? Is there something I’m missing?_

Kyouka tried to understand the two of them and their motivation. In the end she figured it had something to do with pride which wasn't really anything unusual since both Yang and Bakugou had the biggest egos in their class. Still it made her sigh a little at their childishness. They were already strong and yet both wanted to surpass the other. Kyouka never felt that competition was paramount in being a hero. Her goal was the make the people smile to keep them safe from harm. Call her a purist but Kyouka believed being a hero was for the people not the fame.

With that in mind she looked up towards Midnight who was just about to announce the first round. It turned out to be an obstacle course. Perfect something she had to use every bit of her body to win. 

* * *

The obstacle course was supposed to start at the doors. Everyone took their place and Blake looked on. She smirked to herself. She knew she was one of the fastest in her class, as well the best at stealth. Everyone looked at her like she wasn’t going to be a problem, too bad for them. The moment Present Mic told them to go Blake made her way quickly through all the bodies. She was always a very flexible person compared to everyone else and immediately knew what to do. 

Unfortunately just as she reached the outside ice filled the air and froze everyone’s feet. She watched with annoyance when Todoroki casually ran by apologizing for causing it. Blake dodged it fast and jumped towards the wall to run atop of it. She heard people complain at her for using it and rolled her eyes. Midnight said they could use everything to their disposal. It's not her fault she knew how to use the environment around her to her advantage. 

Behind her Blake saw Yaoyorozu pole jumping, Bakugou using his quirk as a kickstart, Yang jumping with them as her legs burned up and Nikos using a metal plate to break the ice only to start riding it. She smirked down at Yang and couldn't help but tease her before running faster on the wall avoiding the frozen path on the ground at all cost. 

She was surprised to see Mina gliding on the ice in an ungraceful way only to see Pyrrha now standing on the metal plate surfing on it. She passed everyone who was running. It annoyed Blake and made her run even faster. She remembered she said Pyrrha would destroy everyone but she didn’t think it would be this early. She jumped from her spot and landed next to the other girl on the plate. Nikos glared at her. 

“Where did you come from?” She asked in shock. 

“I was here the entire time.” Blake shrugged and jumped up from the metal plate onto the now non iced ground. “Thanks for the launchpad!

She heard Pyrrha yell at her as she picked up her speed to get to where Todoroki was What she didn’t realize was that someone else was behind Pyrrha. She turned her head slightly up to see Yang propelling herself with her quirk. Using the heat on her knuckles as a trigger. 

_I thought she only did strength training? Just what else had she been doing this whole time? Yang don’t you dare hold back on me._

Yang landed in front of her and began to sprint further ahead but Blake wasn’t going to have that. She instead ran further towards Yang as she sensed Pyrrha behind them. Her and Yang were now side by side both of their speed in sync. Blake then quickly positioned her arms straight to give her an advantage. She smirked once she passed Yang, but was annoyed to see the girl catch up. It made Blake admit to herself that Yang had improved on her agility imensly since the first day. Nikos and the rest of her class were still far behind and Blake wondered briefly if there was another obstacle ahead.

She continued to advance towards Todoroki only to see a familiar figure make its way towards her. On instinct she used her quirk and the shadow trace took its place. She moved quickly away and watched as the robot crashed into the wall. 

“At least they’re still as dumb as ever.” She muttered to herself and came to a stop next to Todoroki who just stared at them. 

Yang on the other hand didn’t stop, nor did Nikos. The two ran past her and Todoroki. Yang punched the ground and caused a heated shockwave that propelled her into the sky. She then landed on one of the droids, punched it and then jumped on the others to get to the opposite side. Nikos just touched one immediately and then threw it out of her way. Blake noticed Todoroki glared at both girls who passed him. She wondered if he was going to do something or not. The other students finally caught up and Blake watched them cower in fear at the huge mechas. She sighed once she heard Present Mic’s voice. He already boasted about Yang and Nikos getting to the other side. Now it appeared that Todoroki had enough of it.

He ran towards them and Blake watched as he iced all of them in one go. He then went past them and created a sub zero mist in his wake. Blake, who wasn’t one to just stand around there, went into the mist after him. She was an expert at adapting so she could handle this type of environment. The fog however, was really heavy and she had to take a deep breath while maneuvering her way across the graveyard of iced robots. As she continued to follow Todoroki, one of the machines began to fall towards her. WIth wide eyes Blake realized that Todoroki froze all of them tilted on purpose. He didn’t want anyone else to get through. 

As the two robots hurtled towards her and she replaced herself with another copy to make them smash into each other. She managed to land on the other side. Blake turned to see the other students just standing there and sighed. This was a competition there was no time to dawdle. If they did that in a real situation they’d die. She learned that the hard way when she was eleven. 

WIth one last look at the other students Blake turned on her heels and ran to the next obstacle. She wasn’t going to waste her time with the rest of her class. She wanted to get to the finish line. 


	9. Blink and You'll Miss

When her and Pyrrha made it to the pits Yang stopped to inspect the obstacle. She briefly looked down at her hands and turned to Pyrrha who quickly jumped to one of the ropes. Yang then shook her head to psych herself up when suddenly an explosion startled her. She let her eyes go to the sky and watched Bakugou use his quirk to propel himself through the air. It made Yang remember what she did to get past the robots earlier with her own quirk. With a smirk adoring her lips she turned to see the rest of the students making their way and gave them a wave before punching the ground. 

Shockwaves came from her heated fists and she was up in the air. She pinpointed the next pillar within the pits and landed on it with another punch like she did with the machines. Yang did that all throughout the obstacle until she got to where Bakugou was in the area. She smiled at him as he greeted her with a growl. It earned him a cocky wink before she went ahead and landed on the ground to run towards the next course. 

“If anyone hasn’t realized it!” Present Mic projected through the intercon. “Xiao Long can now use her quirk to create shockwaves after punching the ground! Her newly enhanced strength can propel her up to 50 feet into the air! Isn’t that wild y’all!?” 

Yang rolled her eyes at the man's excitement and continued to run, slowing her pace to build up more energy for the next and final obstacle of the race. However, as she continued on her way a crackling noise was heard and Bakugou easily passed her in the sky. Yang glared at him when his feral eyes met hers. She picked up the pace and ran faster to shake him off but skid to a sudden stop when she saw Todoroki’s back. 

_I’m not going to lose to either of these guys..just what is he doing? Why’d he stop?_

Curious Yang looked up at the sign Todoroki was staring at and raised her brows comically. Her adrenaline spiked up and her lips morphed into a cocky grin. 

_A minefield huh? They really aren't holding back in this round are they?_

Next to her Todoroki began to move and Yang followed right after. The two were in sync as they tried to avoid the bombs that were placed in the ground. Although Todoroki was acting like an asshole since his outburst with Midoriya. Yang still respected him and the two were making progress in this temporary truce. That is until Bakugou got in front of them and almost caused both her and Todoroki almost blow up. 

_Damn that flying pile of garbage. That could have killed us… Well, two can play that game._

Yang looked down at one of the mines in front of her and took a deep breath before she punched it hard. The shockwave of the attack plus the explosion made her go up in the air and towards the hot tempered boy. To Bakugou’s surprise she landed right on top of him. 

“What the fuck blondie? Get the fuck off me!” He threatened and lost the focus of his quirk as Yang grinned mischievously.

She was surprised that his strong reflex hadn’t sensed her behind him. Usually Bakugou would have instinctively used his right hook to blast anyone who snuck up on him. Yang deduced that because of his current use of both arms he just didn’t have the time or foresight to attack. 

“Oh wow! Xiao Long just used one of the mines to give her a boost towards Bakugou landing ON him! What an amazing move!!!” Present Mic continued to comment. 

Yang gave Bakugou a mocking smile before jumping off his back. She hit the ground running as she saw Todokori gaining speed. She was able to catch up to him seconds later and greeted him cheerily. Todoroki responded with a grunt but continued to focus on the task at hand. 

Bakugou on the other hand had lost his momentum and was beginning to fall further behind. Which caused Yang to smile even wider as she heard his unmistakable curses. 

“Fuck you blondie! I am not gonna let you fucking beat me!”

“Should have thought of that before and actually taken me seriously!” Yang responded and dodged one of the explosions he aimed at her. 

“Shut up!” He snapped as he turned to Todoroki. “And you! You picked the wrong fucking person to declare war on! It should've been me you icy bastard!”

Yang noticed Todoroki scoff at Bakugou.The other boy tried to hit him but Todoroki sidestepped. The move angered Yang as it almost hit her and finally caused her to attack. When her elbow met Bakugou’s face while he was distracted by Todoroki, Bakugou faltered a bit before lunging towards them again. Yang growled at the boy’s unlimited stamina and prepared another punch as the three soon devolved into a triangular chaotic battle. 

“Y’all!? Looks like we are having a battle of three in the front! All of them from class 1-A! Seriously, what have they gone through to become this powerful?!” Present Mic asked with hysteria.

His voice echoed throughout the stadium as the three leaders continued to battle. Yang, who was busy dodging Bakugou’s sweaty palms, heard some of her friends swear loudly at the huge explosions that came from the mines. Confused by the panic Yang let her eyes look up to the sky only to witness a green haired boy hurtling towards her. 

_So, he did something similar to what I did earlier, clever Midoriya. You have a lot of guts._

As Midoriya soared past them the moment the three stopped fighting Yang couldn’t help but cheer for him. The other two however looked annoyed. Bakugo cursed Midoriya's nickname and Yang sighed before punching the arrogant boy in response, sending him flying backwards. She and Todokori then silently looked at each other before they advanced towards Midoriya who was having difficulty setting up his landing. 

Yang stomped on the pavement, charging up her body and quirk for an attack as Todoroki used his ice to make him faster on the ground. Behind them Bakugou was making progress, ferociously flying with rage towards the three with his eyes set on Midoriya. Yang who was in front of him gritted her teeth as he tried to pass her. She pulled back her arm and focused all her energy to her fist before punching him while he was distracted. With luck on her side she was able to send him even further back where the majority of the other students were.

_Don't get in my way blasty._

He wasn’t a part of this fight. It was between Midoriya, Todoroki and herself. Yang wanted Bakugou as far away from the battle as possible. She wanted to focus only on the race. Bakugou was a huge distraction and he was draining her energy with the amount of attacks he threw at her. 

Fortunately, she and Todoroki finally got to where Midoriya was about to fall but jumped when Midoriya’s metal plate came in contact with the last mine in the field. Yang then growled to herself when she heard Present Mic say Midoriya had gained the lead. She almost lost her footing but managed to stomp the ground to steady herself. She cursed when she saw Todoroki glide his way past her, giving her an unconcerned glance before looking away. Yang could also hear Bakugou behind her and with irritation punched the ground before her to give herself an advanced distance from him. 

She then sprinted towards the arena and saw Todoroki’s back as they ran towards the finish line through the tunnel after Midoriya. When Yang stepped into the arena Todoroki passed her. She bit her lip even harder at the sight but continued to run. She finally crossed the finish line and stopped to look at the stadium LED screen. Midoriya had won the race. She was placed in third. 

Yang looked up to see Ruby cheering for her at the reserved spot on the stands. She looked so cute cheering for her classmates. it made Yang chuckle and wink at her. 

* * *

Qrow smiled softly as he saw his niece place third. He was standing next to Good Fisherman and Mt. Lady. The Midoriya boy surprised him by winning first with that trick at the mines. He thought for sure that Yang would have placed first, however, she was more focused on beating the blasty kid than anyone else in the race. Guess they had a rivalry or something. 

“Gotta admit that boy was crazy but smart.” He joked as he watched the others make their way back into the stadium. 

“Your niece did very well too, you didn't tell me she was that fast.” Yuu said with a smile next to him. 

“Tai had been training her for this, she got faster. Maybe not as fast as that Todoroki kid, but fast enough and smart enough to beat the blasty kid.” Qrow nodded as he turned to look at Good Fisherman. 

Clover watched the screen carefully. His helmet hiding his eyes, making it difficult for anyone to know what he was thinking. He then looked back at Qrow and smiled. 

“They are all very powerful, but all of them have a long way to go to reach us. I will tell Due Process to keep an eye on some of them. We might ask for them to be interns for the agency.” 

Qrow rolled his eyes. It was easy to see that Clover was the opposite of him by the four leaf clover badge that sat clearly on the chestplate of Clover’s costume. His quirk was good fortune but only for himself, and he was tirelessly optimistic regardless of the situation. Qrow had worked with him a few times and the man insisted on being on first name terms. 

“We need to keep going, as much as I’d love to watch, duty calls.” Clover said and gave them a salute before making his way to walk around the area. Qrow turned to Yuu and she just shrugged. 

“He’s right, we need to stay alert.” She said with a smile and Qrow nodded his head, following the two along their path. He looked back at the screen to see Midoriya’s face. The boy truly was capable of the impossible. 

_He really might be able to take the mantle after all._

With a sigh the man continued to patrol with the other two. Clover seemed more uptight than usual but he was nothing like James. 

* * *

Yang was very surprised when a bunch of people came up to her. She wasn’t that popular. She looked around as some people asked to join her cavalry team. One person she was incredibly surprised to see was Yaoyorozu, who stared at her with determination and asked if she could join her team. 

_Well well well, if Schnee was around she’d scream. Her best friend just asked to join my team!_

She watched everyone else pair with people and saw Bakugou having trouble picking the people he wanted on his team. In the end he chose Kaminari, Mina and Kirishima.

Aoyama and Satou came over to her and asked if they could be on her team. She felt her palms get sweaty as she thought about it. She didn’t know them that well. She analyzed their quirks and both seem like capable fighters, but Yang had a very hard time working with people she didn’t know too well. At least she spoke to Yaoyorozu and even joked around with her during class. She didn't know either Satou or Aoyama. 

“Uhh…”

“Yang you want to partner with me and Fumikage?” Blake called out as her and the crow faunus came to her and Yaoyorozu. 

“Sure! I could use your speed and Tokoyami’s power claws.” She grinned big. 

“Don’t call Dark Shadow that..” He said with an annoyed look on his face. 

Yang chuckled before she went serious and walked with all of them to a clear area to speak. She crossed her arms and looked at her teammates with assurance and strength. She needed to make sure they understood their positions.

“Yaoyorozu. You’ll be taking the right wing and using your quirk for defense, providing for us with installation. Blake will take the left wing and keep all enemies at bay with distractions from her quirk, and Tokoyami you’ll be in the front and will be taking most of the attacks and keep us moving, Dark Shadow is a very strong quirk and I want you to use him as much as possible.” She finished. 

“That means you’ll be attacking with physical blows using your charged fists?” Yaoyorozu asked as she watched Yang carefully. 

“I have more cards than just my punches now, you might have seen some of them during the obstacle course.” She smirked a little. 

“The shockwaves?” Blake questioned as she also had a smile playing on her lips. 

“Maybe? Let's get into positions people!” She answered with a wink as all of them nodded. After a few more minutes of discussing their plans and their quirks, especially among Class 1-A, it was time. 

Yang was given a headband and she wrapped it around her neck with a smirk. The others were in their positions. She was going to win this thing. Third place was nice but she wanted first. She heard that about the 10 million points ribbon that was given to the first place winner of the relay and turned to look at Team Midoriya. She could see Uraraka but couldn’t tell who the other students were. 

Yang looked up to see Ruby cheering in the crowd. She then let her eyes move to Todoroki’s team and gritted her teeth. That team was a powerhouse. Not only did it consist of Todoroki, it also had Pyrrha, Nora and Iida within it. 

She continued thinking to herself as she looked at Bakugou’s team. It consisted of Mina, Kaminari and Kirishima. She knew they were tough, but she also had people in the top 10. Blake and Yaoyorozu weren't as strong but they were tactical and Tokoyami had an unique quirk that could be their super defense. 

She waited for the go ahead and as soon as it came they charged. Blake turned them so that they could lose one of the cavalry's of 1-B that was aiming towards them. The guy who almost grabbed the band around her neck had blonde hair. She told Blake it was a good move. She watched as Blake’s bow twitched slightly. As soon as curiosity entered her mind it was replaced with annoyance at the situation. They stopped when they heard a battle cry ahead of them and Yang looked up to see Bakugou’s team charging towards them. He glared at her as their eyes met. 

“Blondie, you are going down!” He threatened as he readied his quirk. 

Yang shook her head and told Yaoyorozu to defend the attack. Yaoyorozu did with a metal shield as the team jumped back after impact. Yang glared at Bakugou, she couldn’t afford to focus on only one person. They had others to worry about. With a command she told the other three to turn their attention to the blonde haired guy who kept taking ribbons off of the team leaders that he passed. Yang then quietly ordered Yaoyorozu to make another shield and place it near her right arm as they advanced towards him and his team. Yaoyorozu cooperated and activated her quirk before quickening her pace. Once the shield was created and put in position. Yang pressed her knuckles to it and activated her own quirk, burnout. 

The heat sent shockwaves from the steel and she propelled herself out of her team’s hold. She was in the air and saw the Class 1-B boy. With a smirk she smashed her fists together to get another charge of her power. He turned around and created a glass shield in front of himself. With a growl and a look of determination she punched her fist through it until she reached his neck with the many ribbons he had possessed. 

“Gotcha!” She said with a smirk. 

“W-What! How! My defense was perfect!” The blonde haired boy cried enraged. 

“Eh, you call that perfect?” Yang taunted. “You’d need more than glass to stop me.”

“Why you Class A Bi---” The boy began but was cut off by someone calling out her name. 

“Yang!” Blake yelled. 

Yang turned to the side to see her team sprinting beside where she currently was and winked at blonde in front of her. She then jumped over to them and watched as Team Xiao Long flew up to second place on the scoreboard. Everyone cheered as they kept running, that is before Tokoyami stopped with Blake and Yaoyorozu afterwards. Blake turned her head, and motioned for Yang to look towards Team Bakugou. 

_He just never gives up huh?_

She then noticed Kaminari lift his arm and smirk. Yang’s eyes widened, and she quickly told Yaoyorozu to create a blanket as big as she could for everyone to fit under. 

“Indiscriminate shot, 1.3 million volts!” He shouted. As his team except Mina blocked it with their quirks. 

Everyone around them became electrocuted except for Todoroki’s team which had Nora pick them all up and absorb all the electricity. Her signature grin made her look like a monster and she pushed past all the others while Todoroki took their points. Yaoyorozu’s blanket covered them from the shock as she watched Tokoyami continue to try and control Dark Shadow. When the shock faded. Yang pulled the blanket from everyone except Tokoyami. 

“Use it for offensive attacks with Dark Shadow.” She said simply as Tokoyami nodded his head. He was impressed that she paid attention when he explained his quirk. 

She rolled her eyes despite how she looked, Yang was always smarter than most people thought. Blake learned that when they first met. 

“Any of you guys notice how some people are going insane at the moment?” Blake asked as she looked around. 

“Belladonna is right, some people are acting as if they are losing their minds.” Yaoyorozu agreed. 

Yang looked ahead and saw team Midoriya. It had Uraraka and those two mysterious students that they met before the sports festival. The green haired girl was in the front as they charged towards them. Something about the team didn’t feel right at all. 

“Turn, something is off about them.” She commanded. 

Yaoyorozu frowned, but Yang noticed something about the girl. Her eyes were staring right at Yaoyorozu. 

“Yaoyorozu close your eyes now!” She demanded as the girl looked up at her in confusion. “Don’t look at her, she’ll do something to your mind.”

From the way the other girl acted there was no doubt. Her quirk involved some kind of manipulation. Everyone coming in contact with Team Midoriya was acting strange and having breakdowns. It was the only thing that could explain it. 

She watched as Yaoyorozu closed her eyes and let the rest of her team guide her. Though Yang’s eyes widened when she felt something take one of the ribbons from her neck. She looked to the side to see Todoroki pass her. 

“Team Todoroki has knocked itself even further into the lead, Team Xiao Long is now in third place.” Present Mic announced. 

“Fuck!” Yang cursed, she told Tokoyami to make their way towards Todoroki. They were going to get that ribbon back. 

_How did I not sense him? How did Iida become as fast as Ruby?_

Blake looked ahead and Yang followed her eyes. Team Bakugou was right in front of them again. She gritted her teeth. Maybe she shouldn't have pissed him off so much. 

“Okay let’s just knock him out.” She said with a roll of her eyes. Bakugou had gained ribbons, and she wanted them. 

* * *

With another apology Pyrrha used her metal shield and blocked another attack before throwing Tetsutetsu at one of the team's next to him. Todoroki managed to catch all of the ribbons.heir lead was still prominent because of the points they made by attacking them. 

“Stop apologizing every second, it's annoying.” Todoroki said with irritation. 

“It’s kinda her thing, she’s half Canadian.” Nora quipped 

“I don’t care, just shut up.” He commanded. 

Pyrrha meekly nodded her head as she kept focus on the game. She saw the others fighting and she was impressed with some of them. Momo who was on team Yang worked really well with the fiery blonde and Blake was quick on her feet, all with Tokoyami doing superb in defense and offence now that he had that blanket to cover his shadow. It was no wonder they were at one of the top spots. Although the team that really caught her attention was Team Midoriya that was solidly in second place and were very close to where their team was. She looked up at Todoroki and waited for what he had in store. 

He looked at Midoriya with such disgust. It was something she saw when he first declared war on the boy. It made her sigh to herself at how boys could be so into this type of stuff. Then again, if she was in position perhaps she’d be aiming at Midoriya as well. The boy did make it to first place in the obstacle course. Nora beside her punched another guy that made their way to them. The whole team fell to the ground after the attack. Pyrrha winced, Nora could be so careless about her strength when she has all that electricity in her. 

Iida stopped suddenly and both she and Nora looked up. They were face to face with Team Midoriya. A smirk played on her lips. Todoroki looked determined and told them to be ready. Midoriya looked nervous and then looked at the ribbons around Todoroki’s neck. Pyrrha told Todoroki earlier to put the 10 million points one in the middle so that Midoriya would only pay attention to the top. Todoroki seemed to listen and did that, so hopefully they could trick him if he took one of their points. 

She stared at them but felt uneasy about the girl with green hair. Emerald was her name Pyrrha had looked her up. Her quirk was hallucinations, which made sense since everyone that Team Midoriya came in contact with broke down all of a sudden, when one of their teammates at least. Pyrrha avoided her eyes when she was looking and made eye contact with both Todoroki and Nora. 

Iida stayed still as he contemplated doing something. Midoriya’s team then made their move and charged towards them. Pyrrha watched with wide eyes as Midoriya's hand started to glow, she wondered if she saw that before. It was the same glow during the battle trails. Todoroki seemed shocked and his left arm came in contact with it suddenly in a burst of flames. 

_Kinda like what Yang’s quirk usually does. Though now she controls the fire better because of her strength being more controlled...so that's his second side._

Todoroki seemed shocked at what he did and lost focus in the battle, Midoriya took the top ribbon while he was distracted and she let out a sigh that he took the lowest one. Nora grinned with a big smile and they remained silent when Midoriya was on the other side. Pyrrha wondered if the girl made her picture Todoroki using his left hand. Or maybe she made him think he was using his right one. It seemed to freak him out, and that was something their team did not need right now. 

“Todoroki focus, time is almost up.” She informed him. 

“Right..” He grunted 

She frowned, could he at least say he was sorry? Why is it so difficult for any of these guys to say something so easy. Maybe she should stop saying it every second. It could do her some good. 

* * *

They had gotten five hundred more points from Bakugou and made a stronger lead into third place. Yaoyorozu also attacked Kaminari who had used too much of his quirk and short circuited. Blake panted as she kept running as fast as she could to where Midoriya and Todoroki were. She was able to copy all her teammates when Bakugou tried to attack them with his explosion. It took a lot out of her but once they stood a bit in front of the sun, her shadow refilled itself. Fumikage from how he looked at her was proud of her and Yang cheered as she held the points she got from Bakugou, who was now fuming as his team stood there waiting for him to say something. 

Yang steered them towards the ice that formed from Todoroki when he used Valkyrie's electricity and Nikos' polarity to cause more of their classmates to lose points and get attacked. Blake gritted her teeth as she picked up the pace once she felt more of her shadow returning to her. The training that she did earlier before this day paid off. Fighting Neo also made her aware of other illusionists. One of them being the green haired girl from the other class. She was fast as well, but Yang did a good job keeping them from falling into her trap. Now they were all in front of each other. Time was the essence.

Yang punched the shield Yaoyorozu held in her possession and propelled into the air, Midoriya charged forward with the help of Uraraka quirk and Todoroki told Nikos to make him a weapon with her polarity. It was going to be a battle royal between the top three. Unfortunately fate had other plans and the time ended followed by the buzzer. 

Yang who was in the air landed on her feet confused. Blake could tell she really wanted to go after the other two. She smiled to herself, Yang was a fierce girl but she also was very cute sometimes. 

“Guess it's over..” She mumbled to her team, as all of them smiled at her. Yang smiled back and put her hands behind her head. 

They heard the results and Blake could tell Yang wasn’t that impressed with her score. She understood why. Yang seemed to always manage to make third place. It was something she was getting quite tired of from what Blake could observe. 

“Well at least we beat Bakugou?” Blake said matter of fact. The others next to her nodded. 

“I guess, but I got third in the relay, I wanted to win this really badly, but like you said. We beat Bakugou by a lot..” 

“I’m surprised more about how Midoriya managed to get into second place.” Yaoyorozu said with annoyance. Blake was also wondering that but she had a feeling it had to do with the green-haired girl and the purple-haired boy.

“They had two people who had mind quirks. One of them could cause some type of hallucination or something. It’s why they managed to get so many points.” Yang said with a sigh. “I kind of want to fight her now..”

“Of course you would say that.” Fumikage replied dryly. 

Blake rolled her eyes at that remark and nudged him. Fumikage should give Yang a chance. Her leadership during the cavalry had shown clearly Yang wasn’t stupid, rather she was tactical and resourceful. She had gotten them out of multiple bad situations and placed them in third place. When an announcement from Present Mic came from the intercom the four students broke apart and all made their way outside of the arena. It was lunch time and Blake was hungry, but that green haired girl caught her attention with the way she glared at her. Confused, she shook it off, needing to focus on the task at hand. 

* * *

She was in line for lunch without Weiss or Pyrrha for the first time. Weiss got a call from her father and Pyrrha went back to get something from her locker. The latter appeared to be focused on the tournament which made Momo wonder if they would be fighting each other in one of the matches. She felt fired up suddenly by the thought of that. They had sparred with each other quite a few times the coming weeks. Pyrrha had become more and more unpredictable in each one. Momo pondered to herself. Pyrrha had gotten stronger since the beginning of their matches. She noticed in the calvary and the relay that she didn’t even need to touch metal anymore to activate her quirk. 

_She trained herself to hold metal at a distance. So that she doesn’t need to touch the material, and make it easier to fight._

She sighed after making that discovery. She had to get better with her own quirk if she wanted to get to Pyrrha’s level. That or use her new strength and hand to hand abilities during the fights. 

“Hey! Yaoyorozu I’ve been calling for you.” Momo looked ahead to see Xiao Long waving at her with Ashido, Belladonna and Jirou next to her. “Want to sit with us?” 

Momo never thought she’d make more friends other than Weiss and Pyrrha, but after pairing up with Xiao Long during the cavalry she had gained a new liking towards the hot headed blonde. She had an ego but it wasn’t as annoying as Bakugou’s. She smiled and made her way to where they were. She spoke to some of them as they made their way to a table that Valkyrie and Ren were sitting at. Just as they were about to sit down they heard Kaminari’s voice. 

“Hey girls.” He said seriously with his hands in pockets. 

“What do you want?” Jirou said annoyed as she sat down next to Xiao Long. 

“Well I’m sure you already know since you’re a class rep Yaoyorozu but,” Mineta began before pointing towards a group of cheerleaders running. “It's been said that all the girls have to wear those cheer uniforms for the big cheer battle this afternoon.”

“What!?” Momo could hear Ashido and Jirou say in shock while Xiao Long and Belladonna glared at Mineta. She decided to take this cautiously, well that is until Valkyrie squinted her eyes at the cheerleaders and opened her mouth. 

“Aren’t those cheerleaders from America that the school announced would be coming to support us? Why the hell would we be battling against them? Not to mention boys usually are in cheer competitions as well.” She said matter of factly and looked at Ren. “Ohh Ren you would look so cute in a boys cheer uniform!” 

After the brief shock and Valkyrie’s continued rambling Momo looked down at Mineta with a sinister look. “Cheer battle huh?” She asked with a deadly tone before lifting the boy up by his collar. “Why must you be so inappropriate?” 

“Oh shit Yaoyozoru is pissed.” Xiao Long gawked with a surprised look on her face. 

“Yeah, usually it's you that wants to punch him.” Ashido snickered. 

“Uhh, Uhh. I just, I.” Mineta stammered, but Momo had enough and threw him into Kaminari sending them both away from the table. 

“Ohh strike!” Valkyrie cheered. Momo couldn’t help but smile as she saw the others join her. Xiao Long and Jirou even called her a badass. 

She sat down with them and sighed at how some of the guys in their class could be so disgusting sometimes. Momo was sitting across from Jirou in between Valkyrie and Ashido and spoke to all of them about all the competition so far. 

“Yang you really made Bakugou and that dude from 1-B look like fools. I can’t believe I wasn’t on your team.” Ashido sighed as she took some rice and shoved it into her mouth. 

“It's your own fault for going to someone who is irrational. You guys still did good, we just did better.” Xiao Long said with a smirk. 

“Now we’ll have to face each other and for the record I’m not holding back.” Belladonna said as she finished her tuna sashimi.

“You four better watch yourselves because I’m here to win it.” Momo said casually. 

The girls who made it to the tournament all stared at her with amusement and nodded their heads. Throughout the rest of the conversation most of them tried to ignore any discussion about it. None of the five that were participating wanted to reveal any more of their battle strengths and tactics. It was a smart move and made the competition more exciting. 

Momo observed them and couldn't help but remember what Todoroki said earlier about making friends. She couldn’t deny that he was right, but in some way he was also wrong. Having these girls around her makes her feel more relaxed and ready for the next competition. She was going to be recognized and she was ready for anything that gets in her way.

* * *

Pyrrha took out the box from her locker. She never liked cafeteria food so she preferred to bring something from home. Besides, her mother made it and she always enjoyed her mother’s cooking. With a smile she looked down at her phone and noticed lunch time was almost over. With a frown she noticed no one was here and decided to have her lunch alone. It was a good idea, since she needed to be away from everyone as she prepares herself for the next battle. 

Since she was young she always wanted to be a hero of justice. Sure she had some influence from other heroes, but she always had the urge to do good. Her quirk polarity was a very difficult power to harness. Her family had heroes within them but not enough to consider them a hero family. She was one of the first to achieve new heights with her quirk. She was dubbed a genius for how easy she learned how to manipulate the metal around her to her disposal. Even now she was able to train herself to control metal at a distance without touching it. She had made great strides to focus on herself these past weeks. She sighed and rubbed her head. Fortunately she hadn't shown one of her newest tricks. It was a very powerful attack she wanted to use against the top powerhouses. Todoroki, Bakugou and Xiao Long. She smirked to herself as she looked down at her hands. She had studied them for quite a while now. How each used their quirk in all different varieties and how all improved themselves since the beginning of the school year. Yang’s quirk reminded her of an ex pro-hero she came across once reading about. Supreme Dragon the Relentless Hero. 

_Come to think of it her quirk is very similar to his from what I read. He can charge up his body to the ultimate attack. He would have been as powerful and one of the top heroes if he hadn’t retired so suddenly.._

Pyrrha finished eating her food and threw away the crumbs in the trash can. She looked back at her clock and sighed. She still had time to meet up with her friends. She got up and made her way through the stadium and noticed Bakugou walking in front of her to the exit. She decided to stay behind and continued to make her way until he abruptly stopped. She bumped into his head and winced a little before glaring at him. 

“What are you doing mov--” Pyrrha began.

“Shut the fuck up magnet.” He whispered. 

Pyrrha sighed and was about to walk around him until he grabbed her arm and pulled her forcefully back. She was about to protest but he glared at her. She tried to pull herself free but froze when she heard Todoroki’s voice. He was speaking about Endeavor the number two pro-hero and frowned. She knew he was his son, but she didn’t think that man was using him to outbeat All Might. She listened closely as much as she hated herself from doing it. 

Todoroki spoke about Quirk Marriages and she felt sick as he spoke further. She researched that ritual during her free time. It was a way to create the most power quirk user, but it was also very dangerous depending on the parents power levels. Fire and Ice though were complete opposites regarding each power and they could cancel each other out, but somehow Todoroki managed to get both sides. She didn’t know she was starting to cry until Bakugou gripped her arm tighter. Pyrrha gritted her teeth as Todoroki spoke about his mother hating his left side. She didn’t understand why he was even talking about it, but it made sense why he freaked out during the cavalry when he went against Midoriya. 

_Who is he talking to though? Why does he believe he must speak to them about it?_

It ended when she heard Todoroki’s footsteps walk away and Midoriya speaking up. She glared up at Bakugou who looked like he was in shock as well. She wretched her arm away from his grip and glared at him to explain why he just made them do that. He said nothing and walked away. Pyrrha looked at her phone and groaned. She didn’t have time left to get to her friends. She cursed Bakugou before making her way back to Class 1-A’s sitting area. 

* * *

Weiss glared at the water bottle in her hand, she hated the fact that she didn’t manage to make it to the battles. She thought if she relied on her summons she would have been able to, but the other students were a lot more powerful, and even if she was with two of the recommendation students from class 1-B it still wasn’t enough to beat Tetsutestu’s group. They landed at sixth place. 

She heard footsteps coming near her and looked up with a glare only to meet Shouto’s face. She looked back down and said nothing. Apparently she was in his spot. He didn’t need to say anything to get her to move. She stood up from the bench and was about to make her way out when she saw someone coming towards them. 

“Oh, no.” 

Jaune Arc smiled when he saw her and began picking up his pace and she turned to Shouto. He had his cold soba in his mouth as he ignored her and she sighed. He was always quiet even when he was forced to come over with his father. She groaned and took a deep breath. 

“Shouto can you help me get rid of him?” She begged. Something she really hated doing. 

“No.” He replied

“Shouto--” She glared and he looked away. 

“Hello Schnee I was wonder--am I interrupting something?” Arc said, confused. 

“Yes!, No.” They both said at the same time. 

“Ummm, wait..are you? Oh wow I am so sorry for interrupting whatever this is” Arc said as he backed away. 

This wasn’t exactly what she wanted as help but it will do. She had been getting hounded by the boy for a while now and he needed to take a hint that she wasn’t interested in anybody. At least with this he might leave her in peace. Not that she even cared about what other people thought of her. 

“Yes, we’re exactly what you think, Arc, now leave us alone.” Weiss said affirmative as she tried to sound as convincing as possible. She wasn’t even into the guy, it was just business. Which she hated just as much. She could tell Shouto was staring at her now. 

_As long as he is quiet it's fine..._

When Arc was gone she started to make her way back to the stadium. Just as she was about to finally be alone, Shouto opened his mouth. 

“What was that…?” He asked. 

Weiss sighed as she continued to walk. She wasn’t going to bother with him. If he couldn’t understand the situation it was a lot easier for her. She waved him off and didn’t answer. Arc will start the rumor and it will eventually hit him. For now she needed to focus, even if she no longer was in the competition. She would still watch to learn more about the top competitors quirks. Shouto included. 

She lifted her phone and winced at the sound of it and looked down to see her father's number mocking her. She closed her eyes and reached to touch her right eyes. 

_Just talk to him and get it over with. Don’t let him hear any weaknesses._

She swiped her phone and made her way to another quiet area to deal with his temper. She had a bad feeling something happened at his agency today and it wasn’t just her awful performance in the festival. 

* * *

Ruby was bored as she finished eating lunch with Uncle Qrow. He told her that he and Aizawa-sensei tried to convince Nezu to allow her to compete but the principal just wasn’t satisfied, especially regarding her quirk control. She sighed and continued to eat the Takoyaki Mt Lady gave to her. It was no surprise to her that only some pro-heroes knew about her and Yang. She wondered if Aizawa-sensei also knew. If he knew he was very good at keeping it to himself. 

She made her way back to the stadium only to see Weiss. She looked upset, Ruby wondered if she could talk to her. Though knowing the girl it was best to not disturb her. The only people who could actually get Weiss to smile were Yaoyorozu and Nikos. Still she looked sad. Ruby swallowed the rest of her takoyaki and made her way to the girl. 

“Hey, Weiss how are you! You did really well in the sports festival.” She said as she tugged at the collar of her uniform. 

“Are you here just to mock me?” She said annoyed.

“No, I’m being serious. You were really good.” Ruby answered confused.

“How was I good if I didn’t make it to the tournament?” She argued, she looked emotionless. 

“Because you did better than other people in our class. There were forty people in this round and you managed to get sixth place. I’d say that’s really good.” Ruby affirmed as she continued to look at Weiss with a smile on her lips. 

Weiss looked at her with disbelief. It seemed Ruby finally managed to get through to her. She still didn’t know what Weiss thought of her but she knew she seemed to make her happy somehow. The girl seemed like an ice queen, but really Weiss was nice and had gotten nicer since the battle trials. Not just to her but to her friends as well. She just believed that Weiss wasn’t a bad person. She just needed a friend who believed in her. 

“Hey dolt, are you thirsty?” She asked with a small smile playing on her lips. It was the first time Ruby received one of those smiles and it made her beam with happiness. 

“Yeah!” She answered. 

“Would you like to get a coffee before we make it back in there?” Weiss asked. 

Ruby thought to herself quickly. She didn’t really like coffee except when it has a lot of sugar and milk. With that in mind she walked next to Weiss with a huge smile, knowing that this was the start of a beautiful friendship. A friendship that she was working to get since the first day.

* * *

Mina was glad they dodged a bullet with the cheerleading outfits even though she wouldn’t have minded if it wasn't for perverted reasons. It was thanks to Valkyrie and her quick wit that screwed up the boys’ plans to embarrass them. If only they had good intentions. Maybe then the girls would have agreed to it. 

_Seriously, the outfits were cute and I would've rocked it._

She sighed to herself but continued to walk with the rest of her classmates into the arena and towards Midnight. Mina smiled when she saw Ejirou, she ran over to her childhood friend and spoke to him briefly. Yang, Kyouka and Blake came over to them as they all were pumped up for the tournament. She usually never watched this part of the festival but Ejirou and Yang were both highly informed about it. The two of them could be so similar to each other sometimes. It was no wonder that she was friends with both of them. They were both rays of sunshine.

She watched patiently as Midnight explained the rules and then all of them had to draw lots. The first was Todoroki’s team, which consisted of Pyrrha, Nora and Iida. The next was Midoriya’s team, who had Uraraka, the purpled-haired boy, and the green-haired girl. Third was Yang’s team and finally Bakugou’s. 

Mina went to the box and pulled out her number. She looked down and nodded to herself. Whoever she was about to fight she was ready to melt their brains out. The last person to draw was Ejirou. She cheered for him, giving him a thumbs up. He gave her a toothy grin and walked back to where the rest of their class was standing. 

“Alright! Now I present to all of you, your opponents!” Midnight announced as everyone looked at the screen before them. 

Mina felt excited about her opponent. Iida was incredibly strong and his quirk was so cool. She turned to him and gave him a wink, he just looked at her seriously as if she was a subject in a science project. It made her squirm as his intimidation began to annoy her. He wasn’t going to hold anything back, well neither would she. 

To distract herself she quickly turned to see Yang and Ejirou who just bumped arms with big grins on their faces. Mina was curious to see their battle, she knew Yang had the advantage because of her quirk, but Ejirou was stubborn and he might just be able to beat her. Either way she couldn’t wait for one of them to advance. On the other side Tokoyami and Blake were also smiling at each other. They had a bond but Mina couldn’t tell exactly what kind it was. They were definitely friends, calling each other by their given names. The two had shadow base quirks so it was going to be interesting to see how they fought each other in battle. 

“Who the hell is Sustrai?” Kaminari asked everyone.

“Oh she was on my team, but be very careful of her Kaminari.” Uraraka said as she turned towards him. “Her quirk is pretty dangerous.”

“My quirk is dangerous Uraraka.” He reasoned with a smirk. 

“So you’re Kaminari?” Another voice came to everyone's attention. 

Mina turned towards it and her eyes widened. It was the same girl who declared war to them during class. She had her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. 

“This is gonna be too easy. Try to not get your blood on my clothes' dunce face.” Sustrai said and turned around to walk away without a care. Kaminari was angry and yelled at her. 

“Don’t mind her, she just wants to defeat you.” The purpled haired boy next to her shrugged before he made eye contact with Midoriya and smiled at him. 

She felt like she was out of the loop as she tried to understand what the two were speaking about telepathically but before she could the purple haired boy she assumed was Shinsou walked away. Mina frowed and was just about to ask about it to Midoriya when she heard Nikos speaking quietly to Yaomomo. She didn’t get everything but those two seemed very excited for their match. Mina had to admit, she thinks Nikos will destroy Yaomomo. But that won’t stop her from cheering the girl on. She was number two on the physical for a reason. 

The two fights she was worried about though were the ones with Todoroki and Bakugou. Valkyrie was very strong and Mina had no doubt she would give Todoroki a good fight, but she relied heavily on electricity and Todoroki would use that as an advantage to cause her body to lose its mobility. It was why he picked her in the calvary to begin with. Then there was Bakugou vs Uraraka. Uraraka was strong. There was no doubt in Mina’s mind about that but Bakugou had strong reflexes when focused. That boy was a total monster on the battlefield. She hoped both of them could hold their ground, it wasn’t because they were both girls, just that those boys were way ahead of both of them in this power spectrum. 

_Much like how Iida can kick my ass. Even so, I still gotta give it my all!_

Mina shook her head and turned to her friends with a smile on her face. Right now they all needed to prepare for the matches. She decided that she wasn’t going to be afraid. She wanted to fight and get scouted just like everyone else. 

“Okay let's get the side games started!” Present Mic echoed from the announcer booth. “Our first side game is a scavenger hunt!”

Mina contemplated if she wanted to do the side games. It sounded fun and it could get her mind off of her first match. With a smirk she made her way to the start with Kaminari and Sero. At least she had something physical to focus on. 

* * *

Blake calmly watched everyone around her and smiled when she saw Mina and Jirou having fun in the side games. She turned around to see that Yang, Nikos and Yaoyorozu were making their way back inside the stadium. She looked at Kirishima and saw he was with Kaminari and Sero. Blake decided that she would go with the girls back inside the building. She needed to rest and overhear everyone's plans. She was never a noble fighter, no matter who her father was. 

When she got into Class 1-A’s waiting room everyone else besides Todoroki, Fumikage and Bakugou were there. Yang had her eyes closed and seemed to be sleeping, while Nikos was busy sitting near her while speaking to Yaoyorozu. From what Blake could get, they were just speaking about normal things. 

_I see they are trying to be as friendly as possible before the match so that neither feel nervous before it._

She thought it was sweet how everyone was fighting someone they were close too. She thought of Fumikage and smirked to herself. They’d sparred a few times, and even worked together fighting off some White Fang grunts. She knew how Dark Shadow worked and also knew about his weakness to light. She needed to think about how to use that to her advantage. Blake needed a plan to reflect light on him to weaken Dark Shadow. She thought about her quirk and knew she could now copy other people besides herself but she still hasn’t tested out objects yet. She sighed to herself, she’d just have to hope to reflect the sun on Fumikage somehow. 

_It will be the only way to actually beat him. That and my agility._

Yaoyorozu then spoke up about the girl Sustrai. That caught Blake’s attention and she made her way to them. 

“You’re worried about her as well?” She asked. 

“Not worried, just intrigued. If one of us wins we’ll have to face her, because there is no way Kaminari will be able to.” Nikos said carefully. 

“Kaminari will be distracted by her body to understand how dangerous she is, it’s a given at this point.” Yaoyorozu sighed as she placed her hand on her forehead. 

“Yeah you two have a point. Uraraka warned us that her quirk is dangerous.” Blake said solemnly. 

“Yang explained it earlier to our team. Her quirk is something with hallucinations” Yaoyorozu said the obvious as the three continued to discuss. “I remembered I had to close my eyes for a while to keep her from affecting my performance. She must be able to manipulate our vision and hearing somehow.”

Blake felt herself sweat the more they spoke. That quirk was dangerous, she wondered why the girl didn’t get into the heroes course. With that kind of quirk she would have been able to pass the practicals right? To her surprise she didn’t. It appeared Sustrai could only use her quirk on living beings not robots. Her quirk made it impossible for her to get into the heroes course. 

“She was the same girl who made the declaration of war to our class. She specifically looked at me, I don’t understand why.” Nikos said worriedly. 

“Come on Pyrrha you’re the strongest fighter in our class after Todoroki, do not tell me there is no reason.” Yang spoke as she opened her eyes. It seemed that the others had awoken her. 

“I mean, yes but, why me? Why is she aiming at me specifically?” Nikos sighed. 

“If she can win against one of the strongest in our class, she’ll immediately be transferred into it.” Yang said with certainty. “It’s as easy as that Pyrrha, at least to her.”

Blake, Yaoyorozu and Nikos all nodded at Yang as they all thought about it. She wasn’t wrong. Either Pyrrha or Yaoyorozu had to be careful if they advanced to the next round. Sustrai was a wild card, maybe even more so than Shinsou. 


	10. Now Its Time To Shine

When the girls heard the announcement that the side games were over. They all got up from their seats around the table and walked out to where their class was seated. Yang felt excited when she saw Kirishima waving to her. He sat next to Kaminari and the two chatted amongst themselves. She and Blake decided to sit in front of Tsuyu and Kyouka while Yaomomo and Pyrrha sat in front of Hagakure and Mina. Yang smiled at her friends as she settled down in her seat. She closed her eyes for a second until the announcement of the first match blared into her ears. Yang adjusted her seat and looked down towards the arena. The first fight of the tournament was Midoriya verses Shinsou, one of the two students who declared war on Class A. Yang observed quietly and listened to Present Mic's brief commentary. She was going to take all the fights seriously and not underestimate any of her opponents. the last conversation she had had with Qrow kept her up all night. Especially considering his confidents in Midoriya. 

***

_“You really shouldn’t underestimate that kid, All Might’s favorite.” Qrow said softly._

_“Midoriya? He’s an oddball, but something about him makes him seem strong in my opinion.” Yang answered._

_“There’s a reason, but I can’t tell you. You’re smart, figure it out yourself.” He finished before walking out of the kitchen._

_***_

Her uncle was always vague when he spoke about hero stuff. It made Yang nervous as she waited for Midoriya and Shinsou to make their way to the ring. She looked at All Might, who was sitting in the teachers booth and noticed his serious expressions. It surprised her to see the Bringer of Peace showing so much interest in one match. However, before she could analyze any further Yang heard a gasp escape from Pyrrha and quickly turned her attention away from the man. 

"What's wrong?" Blake asked concerned. 

“Shinsou’s quirk is brainwash.” Pyrrha said quietly, as everyone eyes widened at the revelation. 

Sure enough Present Mic announced the quirk. He explained to the audience how it worked once Midoriya was captured by Shinsou’s voice. Yang watched sadly as Midoriya made his way to the out of bounds with a blank look in his eyes. She realized that all his hard work to be noticed in the other games were going to be for nothing. Something even her classmates took to account.

“Can’t he do something to get himself back to normal?” Kaminari questions frantically behind her. 

“He would need something physical, I remembered bumping into one of his victims in the cavalry. It woke them right up.” Ojiro said calmly next to Mineta. 

“Wait he’s glowing again!” Nora shouted excitedly. 

Yang watched as the glowing red x mark on Midoriya’s hand shone. The next thing that happened was an air-blast to the ground. It appeared to have snapped Midoriya right out of the other fighter’s control. However the whole match dissolved into a shouting match once his opponent realized his quirk failed. Shinsou despite his appearance started to break down. He began to rant about the fact that his quirk would never allow him into the heroes course. That everyone in class A was born lucky and other nonsensical bullshit.

Yang frowned to herself and moved her eyes to Ruby. She didn’t know if blessed was the right word for them or even some of the others in the class. They suffered in other ways. Having pro-hero parents and uncles was anything but fun. There was pressure presented to them, to live up to their parents legacy. Not to mention the fact that pro-heroes could die unexpectedly, leaving their kids without anyone to care for them. Still despite all that Yang understood Shinsou’s mindset. 

When Midoriya swung Shinsou over his body he was declared the victor. Yang cheered with the rest of her class but felt Blake tense up as Shinsou was being comforted by his classmates from general studies. Yang turned her attention to her friend only to watch her get up. Blake touched her bow unconsciously as she strutted to the exit. 

“Where are you going?” Yang asked worriedly. 

“I need to be alone before my match with Fumikage, don’t worry about me.” Blake replied hurriedly as she continued to walk away. 

When the cat faunus disappeared into the stadium. She had an urge to follow her. However, Kyouka had decided to climb over from her seat to take Blake's in an attempt to question Yang. The shorter girl’s brows furrowed as her dark eyes narrowed at the stairway Blake exited from. 

“What’s her deal?” Kyouka asked, clearly annoyed by one of her friend’s abrupt departure.

“Don’t know? Guess she wants to be alone before her match.” Yang answered. Deciding it was best to brush off the other’s suspicion.

“Her match is against Tokoyami, they’re friends so of course she wants to be ready to fight him.” Kirishima said across from Kaminari. “Speaking of fights I’m stoked for ours Xiao Long! Finally, I get to really see that quirk in action!”

Yang turned her head and smirked at him. “I’ve been interested in yours as well, I promise you’ll feel so much pain after I’m done with you.”

“Likewise.” He grinned brightly. 

“Alright time for me to get out of here.” Yang heard Nora announced as she got up from her seat next to Ren. 

She could tell Nora was nervous but also sensed the excitement that bubbled up inside her. Nora wasn’t one to give up, she always gave her all in fights. Especially against people who were far more skilled than her. 

_Hell she even made Pyrrha sweat in their battle on the second day of school. She’s a monster when given the chance._

Yang decided to smile at her friend and give a V sign for victory. Nora laughed and gave one right back before her face went serious as she turned around to walk down the stairs into the stadium.

“She’s up against Todoroki…” Yaoyorozu said calmly. 

“We both know she’s a powerful fighter, but she’s not always tactical when she fights.” Pyrrha said solemnly “Her technique needs a lot of work.”

“You know I can hear you all, right?” Ren interrupted suddenly as he looked up at everyone with a bored expression. “And she doesn’t always rely on her power. When we trained together for this, she had been working on her technique, don’t count her out just yet.”

Yang never heard him speak that much before. It was usually just a thank you or an apology for anything Nora had done. Ren looked annoyed at everyone predicting the next match. It surprised Yang that behind his cool exterior was a sarcastic and sassy personality. Perhaps they shouldn’t and let fate decide. After all one should never judge a book by its cover. 

* * *

Nora closed her eyes as she looked down at the battery in her hand. She was almost full and ready. The electricity coursed through her muscle fibers as the charge strengthened her body. She needed to prove to everyone she wasn’t just an orphan who got lucky, nor was she just a nobody someone can look down upon on their high pedestal. Shinsou’s words clearly struck her. He really believed that his life wasn’t good enough. It pissed her off. Nora imagined the boy had a family to go home to. That he had a mother and father who were proud of him no matter what he became. It hurt, it was painful to remember. 

_I lost everything as a child, way before I even met Ren who saved me..._

“Seriously he’s not the only one who wasn’t blessed. Everyone has problems. Idiot shouldn’t say things so lightly.” She muttered to herself as she lifted her body from the wall she was leaning against. She took a deep breath and walked to the end of the tunnel and was met with the cheer from all the people in the audience. 

Nora glared at Todoroki as he stood there next to her and then casually made her way to the arena. She felt the electrical crackle against her fingertips and glanced up to see Ren and her friends cheer at the stands. She smiled and waved before seeing the fire shot up beside her and Present Mic announced their names. She looked at her opponent as she stood on the opposite side of the arena. She kept her face in a straight line and looked with little emotions. She was not going to lose without a fight. 

When she heard Present Mic say go, she dashed forward to Todoroki, she pulled back a fist and tried to punch him. He dodged. She growled and kept herself close. If she backed away he could use his ice attacks on her easily. When she watched him in the other rounds she noticed how when he fought Bakugou and Yang he kept himself from using his ice. She figured that he can’t use it well when he’s in close combat. All she had to do was attack him in a close range and she can win. 

Unfortunately Todoroki didn’t make it simple, dodging her attacks easily and skillfully. He reminded her of the way Ren fought. Her childhood best friend was an elegant fighter, always dodging his opponents until he had an opening to strike. She always managed to lose against him in the beginning, but she learned he wasn’t as powerful with his attacks. So she tried to kick his face, but Todoroki dodged again. He was using his ice to move faster against her attacks. Nora grunted as she felt herself get tired. The crowd watched with excitement. She glared at him as he continued to look down at her.

“I’m not going to lose to you.” She muttered.

Todoroki said nothing and ducked another electrically charged fist. Nora’s body started to lose momentum and she felt the electricity she absorbed earlier start to leave her. She needed more, or she’d lose her body functionality completely. She grit her teeth and lifted her leg when suddenly she couldn’t move. 

_How did I use up all my quirk that easily...damn._

”Damn…” She muttered. 

Todoroki sidestepped himself away from her and stepped on the floor with ice producing from it. 

“Apologies.” He said softly.

Before Nora could even react the ice consumed her whole body and she was frozen in place. Her head became numb as she stared at the boy before her. She knew he was the number two hero's son, but she didn’t know he could be this powerful. She groaned as she felt the cold hit her hard. She couldn’t breathe with how cold it was. 

“Nora!” She heard Ren yell from the stands and let her eyes go to him as some of the boys held him back. She hadn’t seen him that emotional in a long time. 

She let her eyes go back to Todoroki who stood with ice accumulating on his right side. She remembered when he used the fire on his left side in the calvary. She wanted so badly to see it in action. Everyone around them watched in shock at the amount of power he used against her. She felt useless as she could not only move because of his quirk but also of her own. 

“Valkyrie has been immobilized. Todoroki wins the match.” Midnight announced. 

Nora kept her eyes open as Todoroki began to melt the ice. She was so angry at herself. How did she even think she had a chance against him. He then said something that made her heart stop. 

“Sorry, it was a bit much, I was just angry is all.” He mumbled as he looked away from her. 

Nora suddenly felt bad as she felt her arms break free from the ice. Todoroki didn’t mean to freeze her like this. He slipped and let his emotions get the better of his quirk. She couldn’t help but frown and feel bad for him. Maybe there was more to him than the grumpy antisocial teen he acted like.

“Don’t be, even the best of us get emotional..” She managed to say softly. 

He looked at her with confusion before he looked back down. She didn’t expect him to hear her words. She looked away as he continued to melt her out of her prison. She was still angry at herself from being reckless. 

* * *

He was being held by Ojiro and Sero as he struggled against them. Nora got hurt and all he could do was watch. It frustrated him to no end. He needed to get to her, she was his only family left. Ren wasn’t someone who showed his heart easily, but when it concerned Nora, his emotions got the best of him.

His breath was heavy as he watched Todoroki melt her down and one of the healers went and caught her. She looked like she was breathing but he couldn’t pinpoint if she was moving. She must have used all her electricity. It was the only explanation he could muster at a time like this. 

_Why did he even apologize if he did that. It doesn’t make sense to me._

The grip on him loosened and he looked at his holders who seemed less focused. At that moment he realized his chemical must have slipped from his control and onto his classmates as Sero started to mumble about cotton candy clouds and Ojiro mumbled he could see Hagakure. If this wasn’t a dire situation Ren would watch with amusement at his classmates experience with his quirk. 

Their grip on him was still strong somehow and he continued to witness their antics. He wanted to get to Nora, but at this point he knew she was going to be okay. Todoroki wasn’t a sinister guy, he just wasn’t good with emotions. 

_Much like myself...maybe if he meets someone. Someone like Nora, he’ll start to open up._

He relaxed for a bit and then felt a hand on his back. He let his eyes go towards Kaminari, the other student besides Nora with an electric type quirk. Kaminari gave him an assured look and it calmed him down further. He and Nora had gotten a little closer to the boy since the U.S.J attack. He came off as an airhead but he was actually a smart guy and pretty fun to speak to when he wasn’t around Mineta. 

“My fight is about to start, so, I’ll go check on her and give her a bit of a boost. You noticed too that her body stopped moving before he attacked? She could have dodged it. Don’t worry she’s strong Ren, she’ll be fine.” He said with a smile and patted his shoulder to reassure him. 

Ren watched as Kaminari walked out from the stands to get ready for his fight against Sustrai. He felt better after he spoke. With that Ren sat back down in his seat and stared at the empty chair that she occupied before. He hoped she was okay. 

* * *

The fight terrified him and yet it excited him for his own. Denki made his way to the arena with immense energy flowing through his body. He stopped by Recovery Girl’s room to check on Nora and saw her holding her battery as her fingers started to move again. He walked to her and smiled down. 

“You did a good job out there.” Denki said with a smile. 

“Yeah if you think losing your ability to move is good.” She grumbled. 

Denki sighed. She did well against someone like Todoroki, she needed to calm down. Then again he would also be upset if he can’t move his arms due to the lack of electricity. With that in mind Denki pressed his palm further to her shoulder and let his electricity flow out of his body. Nora focused and absorbed it, he watched her legs twitch and smiled as she began to move again. 

“Ren’s worried about you by the way, you should get back to him.” He said and pointed to the door. 

“Thanks Denki.” He heard Nora say softly as her footsteps faded away. 

_Your welcome…_

He got out of the waiting room and walked to the arena. He didn’t know what he was in store for with Sustrai, but he wasn’t going to let her win. 

_She may be cute, but I’m not going to go easy on her._

With that Denki stepped out of the arena and met his opponent for the match. She made fun of him and he didn’t like that. He would have to show her just how strong his quirk really was. He smirked when he noticed Sustrai looking at him. It was now or never. 

* * *

She smirked at him as he stood there like an idiot. She watched him closely and couldn’t help roll her eyes when his eyes went down to her chest. Typical boy who just couldn’t help himself seemed. She looked at him with no emotions as she bawled her hands into fists. She would just have to finish this quickly. Her eyes were on a bigger prize. When they both heard Present Mic’s scream go they continued to stare at each other. Emerald wondered if the blonde boy will attack her or just keep staring. It seemed he was too dumb to focus on the match. 

_Well this certainly is going to be an easy win._

“Say why don’t you and I grab a bite after I win the fight hm?” Kaminari said with a smik

“How about no.” She deadpanned. “And for the record I’m going to win Dunce Face.” 

Kaminari got angry from that remark and he started to build up his electricity and lifted both his arms, he growled at her and focused his shot at her body. Emerald just stood there and waited for him to finish. Then she could activate her quirk and win. 

“Indiscriminate Shot, 1.3 million volts.” He shouted as the electricity made its way to her. 

Emerald flipped backwards from the electrical zap. Each shock missed her body by each flip. She saw the out of bounds and then leaped forward to land behind Kaminari with a heavy thud. She watched him turn around and looked at his face. He started to short circuit and she smirked as she met his eyes. Kaminari stood there for a moment and then he suddenly yelled. Emerald only watched in amusement as he began dodging an invisible force. He kept fighting the phantom opponent until he threw himself out of bounds. That gave her the victory.

“Kaminari is out of bounds, Sustrai wins the match!” Midnight said immediately afterwards.

“W-What just happened!?” Present Mic shouted loudly to the intercom. “Did Kaminari just throw himself out of bounds? Yes he did people, and that’s no coincidence since his opponent’s quirk is hallucinations, once she has you by the eyes Emerald Sustrai can make her enemies see what she wants.” 

Kaminari was still short circuiting on the ground and Emerald smirked down at him. He looked pathetic as he squirmed around, helpless. It felt good to be able to win against someone from that class. 

_She’ll be proud of me for this, I hope she’s watching…._

Emerald looked at the crowd and scoffed as she made her way out of the arena. This was nothing but a game for them and she wasn’t going to be there for their stupid entertainment any longer. 

* * *

Kyouka was surprised at what she just witnessed. She knew Kaminari was pretty strong but to be defeated by throwing himself out of bounds. That wasn’t what she was expecting. Kyouka looked at Yang who only watched with a serious look on her face. She could also see Nikos and Yaomomo looking grim. 

“What just happened…” She asked. 

“We had a discussion about this earlier, in case me or Pyrrha would have to fight her next.” Yaomomo muttered. 

“She was also able to dodge his attack with ease.” Yang added. “She's a capable fighter, and we shouldn’t underestimate her.“

Kyouka watched as Kaminari was escorted out of the arena by the robots. She still couldn’t believe it, but with what the others said she started to understand. 

“What do you think he saw?” Kyouka asked. 

“He probably thought she was attacking him, when in reality she was just standing there.” Nikos answered as she put her hand on her chin. 

“We should probably go down there.” Yaomomo said as she got up.

“Agreed.” Nikos said as the two looked at each other with smiles and made their way to the arena. 

Kyouka was now alone with Yang and was suddenly aware of the intimidating demeanor her friend was giving off. She turned to Ruby who was unaware of her sister’s behavior as she continued to speak to Tsuyu, Mina and Kouda. Kyouka sighed softly as she realized she would have to be the one to distract Yang from whatever was bothering her. With all the courage she could muster she looked up at her friend and gave the blonde her signature crooked smile. 

“So, are you nervous for your fight against Kirishima?” Kyouka asked as she tried to think about anything else other than the fight between Yaomomo and Nikos.

“Huh?” Yang asked surprised before a smile formed on her lips as excitement overcame her features. “Oh no way! I’m not nervous, I’m pumped, I’ve been coming up with a lot of strategies. Like I know his hardening quirk is gonna be tough to break but I have many scenarios that can lead me to beat him!” 

Kyouka’s smile widened at that. Yang had been too serious lately. She hadn't smiled since the beginning of the matches. Kyouka knew she was just focused and watching everyone else's quirk in action, but it was strange to not see her usual bright and friendly temperament. 

When Valkyrie returned she gave Ren a huge hug and showed off her legs as if she was good as new. It was strange to witness the usually emotionless guy show relief on his face. A lot of her classmates have been surprising her this whole festival. From Midoriya to Uraraka, to Belladonna, to Mina and even Todoroki. Everyone had gotten stronger since the U.S.J incident and Kyouka felt she was lagging behind. She frowned at that thought for a second until loud mumbling overwhelmed her advance hearing.

As if on cue everyone let their eyes go to Midoriya who was frantically writing down information in his notebook. Kyouka started to get annoyed by the constant jammering and lifted one of her jacks to jab him. Yang grabbed her arm though and stopped her. Kyouka looked at Yang as her friend listened closely to Midoriya’s mumbles and realized the girl was using it as a way to learn more about the quirks he was analyzing. 

However, the constant mumbles were quieted by Uraraka asking Midoriya to calm down. With a peace of mind Kyouka finally looked down at the arena to see both Yaomomo and Nikos make their way to the ring for the fight many of the students including herself were waiting for. Two recommend students dueling against one another. Both of them are capable of winning. Only one of them could advance to fight Sustrai. 

Unbeknownst to herself Kyouka let out a deep breath as she waited for Present Mic to start the match. 

* * *

The fire went up as her name was called and she stared at Pyrrha who smiled next to her. She felt a sudden bout of nerves hit her stomach and Momo shook herself to stop it from building up inside her. She had fought Pyrrha before this, she knew what she’s getting herself into. She made her way to the arena and turned to face the redhead. Pyrrha continued to smile at her, she seemed just as nervous, but kept it hidden from Momo. Pyrrha had been quite secretive about what she did throughout the weeks. She had shown her usual abilities and Momo even witnessed stronger she’d gotten controlling her quirk. She was a force to be reckoned with, and now they were in her court. Unlike herself Pyrrha was in her element. This match could be hers instantly, but Momo wasn’t gonna let that happen. She was going to give her all and beat Pyyrha, even if it meant breaking bones in her body to do so. She was ready. 

Present Mic’s voice rang in their ears and it began. Momo reached her arm out and began to make a shield from her arm. She watched Pyrrha extend her own with her quirk glowing upon her hand. She heard rattling and turned to see the stadium move with force. Two metal plates ripped out from under the audience and made their way to her body. 

As soon as the shield was made on her arm and spear was in her hand, Pyrrha had already jumped to attack with her makeshift spear and shield. Their weapons clashed and they looked at each other with excitement in their eyes. 

Pyrrha grabbed hold of her jacket and began to flip her over. Only for Momo to cut it with her spear and then slip out of it. She jumped back and was now without her coat and all her skin free. She glared at Pyrrha for that and began to create another shield with her left arm. Pyrrha however wasn’t going to let her complete it and threw her own shield towards her. Momo blocked it with her right shield and made it bounce back to Pyrrha who caught it with a smirk. 

“You’ve improved. Didn’t think your reflexes were that fast Momo.” She said teasily. 

“Well, I’ve learned from the best.” She answered. 

Pyrrha then smiled at her and threw her makeshift shield again and ran towards Momo. She blocked it again but wasn’t ready for Pyrrha to come right after and swipe her feet to the ground. Momo fell on her back, and just as Pyrrha was about to grab the front of her sports bra, Momo rolled out of the way to kick her down using the force of her leg. Unfortunately, Pyrrha caught it and twisted her foot, Momo moaned out in pain and kicked Pyrrha even harder in the gut to get her off. Pyrrha skidded to a halt and breathed hard. Momo got up again and held her ribs. They glared at each other and let out battle cries as they grabbed their weapons. 

Their spears collide again and they continue to fight with them until Pyrrha jumps over her using her shoulder, she then kicks her again on the side making her fall back down. Momo panted heavily and was about to get up when Pyrrha’s shield came in contact with her back.

Pain, that was all she felt when the metal plate hit her. She almost fell, but Momo wasn’t going to let her win. She turned around and created a whip from her hand and captured Pyrrha by her wrist, she pulled the girl to her and punched her in the gut. 

* * *

Pyrrha let out a groan after the impact. Momo had gotten better at combat and hand to hand. She was impressed at the start but now she knew she had to win. She gripped the wrap from her wrist and pulled to rip herself free. She used her quirk to get her shield and secured it on her body. 

“I don’t even know what is happening, but these girls are absolutely on fire. It’s just a never ending fight of brute force, strategy and combat, what a battle am I right!” Present Mic yelled from the intercom. 

It had to end, her energy was starting to dissipate. Momo was a good fighter and Pyrrha was proud of her, but she had one more trick up her sleeve. 

When they clashed again Pyrrha focused on the wavelengths around her. This was going to make her lose a lot of her mobility and make her shake at the impact, but it was the only way to win. Momo wasn’t backing down and she was making more weapons now that her jacket was off. She smiled as soon as she felt it course through her body. The pulse became rapid in her heart as the power came out of her. A storm began to rage between them, the wind picked up and Momo's eyes began to shift from the occurrence. Pyrrha continued to build up the magnetic field around her as more of the metal ripped from the arena. 

“I’m sorry!” She uttered softly and let the attack commence. 

There was a huge wave between them as Momo went flying to the opposite side and hit the wall hard against her back. 

“Yaoyorozu is out of bounds, Nikos wins the match.” Midnight said in shock. 

Pyrrha felt herself shake violently, she fell to her knees and took deep breaths as her body exerted itself. She looked at Momo who got up against the wall and was about to go to her when suddenly she noticed her own hand shaking. Momo who was concerned ran over to her, she wasn’t completely damaged by the attack. Pyrrha noticed a giant shield on the ground and wondered if her friend made that before the impact. She felt Momo wrap her arm around her stomach and help her up. 

“Now that’s what I called sportsmanship!” Present Mic quipped. 

The audience cheered for both of them as Pyrrha let Momo guide her out of the arena. She leaned against her and smiled as they made their way to Recovery Girl. 

* * *

Blake closed her eyes as she heard the winner of the match. She was resting in the shadows of the stadium so that she didn’t need to hear everyone’s voice talk about the matches. She liked to be alone when she was angry, and after Shinsou's words, she was furious at his careless thoughts. 

_Blessed, he thinks I’m blessed that I have to fight everyday to hide my true species, that my people have to always be in the shadows of humans who shine. I bet he doesn’t even know anything about our history._

She growled quietly until she heard footsteps coming her way. She looked up only to see Fumikage’s face. He seemed concerned, but she knew that their match was about to begin. She smiled at him and the two made their way for their match. 

They walked side by side and spoke briefly about the other night. Blake placed her arms to her side and felt them itch with excitement. They haven’t spared each other since three days ago, it would be nice to see if either of them worked on something new. She knew Fumikage always relied on Dark Shadow, but since they started their friendship he started to fight with his body rather than just the creature within him. She couldn’t wait to beat him. 

After Present Mic did the introductions of the two they walked to the opposite side of the arena. She took a steady breath and went into position as Present Mic yelled for the fight to begin. At the sound of the gong, Dark Shadow immediately emerged from Fumikage’s body and attacked her. Thankfully she made a copy of herself and all Dark Shadow had hit was just a mere shadow trace. 

While her friend’s quirk was busy Blake stealthily made her way behind Fumikage and gave him a roundhouse kick. She managed to get him in the back of his head and watch as he staggered a couple steps forward. Dark Shadow upon hearing his partner's voice immediately returned to Fumikage and went on the offense. Blake easily dodged each of his claw attacks, like a game of tag. Dark Shadow was slow compared to her and she used that to her advantage in the fight. She came to the conclusion that whenever he got closer she’d used another trace to divert him. That way she could attack Fumikage without worrying about his impressive quirk.

When Dark Shadow went to attack her decoy. Blake quickly got in front of Fumikage and punched him in the face before sensing his quirk. She crouched down and winced as Dark Shadow accidentally hit Fumikage who fell to the ground after the impact. As he got himself back up again Blake panted and thought of another plan. It was starting to become difficult to use her quirk. She could only use a few traces at a time now. Blake knew she had to end this and soon. 

With that in mind she used another trace to distract Dark Shadow and made her way quickly to where Fumikage was. With all the strength she had Blake kicked him hard to the side and grabbed his gym jacket quickly before Dark Shadow could stop her. She then gritted her teeth and moved her arms forwards as she threw Fumikage outside of the ring. 

As Blake waited for the dust to clear her heart pounded rapidly as the adrenaline she had previously died down. To her surprise Fumikage was still standing at the edge of the arena but Dark Shadow was out. She looked at Midnight to see if it counted and the teacher nodded. She won the match.

“Tokoyami is out of bounds, Belladonna wins the fight.” Midnight declared. 

Blake let out a heavy breath as she looked at her friend. Fumikage nodded his head with a small smile on his face as the two shook hands before exiting the arena. Her next opponent would be either Kirishima or Yang and Blake hoped it would be Yang. She had wanted to fight her since they first met.

* * *

Ejirou stood next to Xiao Long as they awaited their battle. He watched her, she was calm and collected. Something he never witnessed before and felt the need to do the same. He was very excited to fight her. After Bakugou, Xiao Long was the most manly person in their class, her cool and sweet attitude hides a powerful and controlled quirk. He remembered her earlier boasting about her new strength. Ejirou wanted to see that strength first hand. 

The two stood in silence on opposite sides of the ring but once they heard Present Mic the fight had begun. 

Ejirou hardened his body and face before charging right towards her. Xiao Long predictably allowed him to punch her right on the shoulder. She staggered at the impact and Ejirou waited for her limbs to burn up. However to his surprise there were no flames. Her usual patches of golden flames weren’t upon her skin, instead there were only those red burns. Xiao Long smiled at his shock expression and pulled back her right arm only to swing it down to his chest. The attack made Ejirou quickly use his hardened arm to block it, but that single punch was strong enough to make him skid back several inches from her. It wasn’t like any of her punches before. 

_What the hell! That wasn’t even charged!?_

It was a normal punch, Xiao Long wasn’t even at her peak let alone eighty percent. Ejirou growled as he watched her walk towards him casually. He felt mocked and frustrated which stupidly made him run towards her to punch her again this time in the face. Sadly, that was a bad move as she skillfully blocked it with her left palm and stopped his attack. Ejirou gritted his teeth as he fought the unmovable grip, he could see his hardened fist draw blood from it, but before he could process what was happening next. Xiao Long pulled her other arm back and punched him straight into the atmosphere. 

The impact didn’t hurt that much but it was really powerful and he couldn't breathe for a second. Ejirou watched with admiration as Xiao Long punched the ground and jumped up towards him. She went behind his body and brought both arms up above her head before hitting him hard on the crown of his own. He fell to the ground on his stomach, his jaw hitting the cement as Xiao Long landed on the opposite side.

Ejirou never felt so alive, the blood pump in his veins and he couldn’t help but smile to himself. He got up off the ground and made another attempt to punch her. Xiao Long on the other hand ducked this time and swept his legs underneath. Ejirou snarled. He really had to learn how to fight more with his legs. It’s obvious that Xiao Long had experience fighting with both appendages. 

Once again he got back up immediately and watched her. Ejirou was learning a lot about Xiao Long but knew that she was holding back. He put his arms up in a X position as she advanced towards him before attacking him with a double punch to his hardened skin. Ejirou grunted but stood his ground as she continued to punch him. His excitement bubbled up as he witnessed her eyes flicker from purple to red in the middle of the barrage. The same red he saw during the U.S.J incident. 

“You can kick my ass all you want, but I’m not going down easily.” He joked as he flashed her a broad smile. 

“Oh I know, don’t worry Kirishima, it will all be over soon.” Yang replied cheekily as she pulled her arm back to strike. 

Ejirou scoffed at her confidence, but knew she was a lot stronger than him. He felt another punch to his cheek and watched surprised as her arm fired up with her quirk fully activated. Xiao Long looked at him briefly and smiled genuinely. Then with a final battle cry she punched him right in the face with her charged attack. Ejirou fell to the ground and made a small crater the size of his body. He could barely move as he felt his consciousness slip while his body softened. Xiao Long showed him no mercy and gave it her all in that final blow. With that Ejirou couldn’t help but grin as he heard Midnight declare the fight to his friend. 

* * *

“Kirishima is KOed, Xiao Long wins the match!“ Midnight called out. 

Yang winced as she watched Kirishima be taken by the robots inside the stadium. She heard the crowd cheer her name and sighed. She didn’t want to hurt the guy that much. 

_Maybe I should have held back a litt-- no I will fight everyone with all I got, even if I hurt them._

Yang looked at her hands briefly and made her way into the stadium. She looked ahead to see Bakugou against the wall and glared at him. She really couldn’t stand that guy. He was always on her about her nice personality. When in reality he should honestly take a look at himself. They didn’t exchange words as she continued to make her way back to where everyone was sitting. However, she did make a brief stop to the waiting room to see Uraraka, Iida and Mina. Mina looked up from her seat and ran over to congratulate her. 

“I was wondering when you were going to punch him so hard he’d go unconscious, I was impressed to see he managed to hit your eighty percent mark.” She said with a smile. 

“Yeah, he did good, I still feel awful for knocking him out. I tend to do that a lot..” Yang said. 

“Don’t be down on yourself Xiao Long you did well, it made me excited for my match with Ashido!” Iida said next to Uraraka, who had been strangely quiet this whole time. 

“Speaking about our match, we better go!” Mina said as she and Iida waved to them. 

Yang smiled and waved back before she looked at Uraraka. She could obviously see the girl was terrified to face Bakugou. She felt she should say something, but she knew she really had nothing to say. She didn’t know what the girl was feeling and Midoriya already walked in also concerned for her. 

She decided to exit the room and walk back to the stands everyone else was at. When she got there people congratulated her. 

“That was a punch! Nice job Xiao Long!” Sero cheered 

“I’ll say! She made a crater!” Ojiro pointed out. 

“Man I wish I had that power, your quirk is so cool!” Hagakure said excitlingly beside Tsuyu. 

“He’s just lucky he didn’t get her hundred charged punch.” Ruby sighed in releif. “Otherwise that whole stage would be destroyed and Midnight would be flying.”

Everyone laughed at that and Yang was happy to see Blake was back. She sat between her and Kyouka and waited for the next match that Mina would be in. 

“Does your body hurt?” Kyouka asked while looking at her with concern in her dark eyes. 

“Nothing gets past you huh? Yeah it hurts, but as long as I rest it I’ll be ready for the next match.” She answered, truthfully and rolled her shoulders to prove her point. 

“Which is with me right?” Blake said with a smug look on her face. 

Yang smiled next to her and nodded her head. She was stoked to fight Blake. It was going to be much different then Kirishima. Blake was faster than her, and her agility will be difficult to fight against. 

* * *

Ochako looked up at the screen in the waiting room and watched the fight that was happening. Ashido held her ground but Iida was a lot faster, and in the end he won easily. She winced as she watched Ashido fall to the ground unconscious after he kicked her using his thrusters. She was taken by the robots to the infirmary and let out a deep breath. 

_It’s almost time for me to fight. Why did it have to be him?_

She thought of the other powerful fighters she would have fought. From Todoroki, to Nikos, to Xiao Long and even Deku. She remembered what Rose and she trained. Rose had taught her to use her speed when she held things in the air. She wondered if she could use that to her advantage to fight Bakugou.

_Probably not, his reflexes are out of this world and only some people are capable of reaching it._

Ochako sighed and looked at the notebook that Deku left. She eyed it with wonder and shakily grabbed it. She looked around to see if no one noticed, but Iida didn’t come in. 

_Maybe something in here will give me an idea, I need to think like Deku would._

She eventually put it back down. Ochako thought to herself and figured the only way to beat the guy was if she floated him into the air. Her quirk was powerful, just her body needed work. She thought about Xiao Long, Nikos, Belladonna and even Yaoyorozu. During their matches Ochako witnessed their strengths and agility. Belladonna even defeated Tokoyami who was one of the strongest fighters in their class. 

_She must have used a lot of her wit, something I need to do when fighting Bakugou._

With a nod to herself Ochako got up from her seat and made her way to the arena. She only had one shot to get Bakugou to float. She needed to be fearless like the other girls that fought before. 

* * *

“His reflexes are too fast.” Blake said softly. It reminded her of Adam and how his reflexes were the reason she gained her speed. When he trained her he never held back, much like how Bakugou wasn’t going to let Uraraka touch him. 

“She’s at a huge disadvantage.” Kaminari said as he now sat next to Valkyrie and Ren. 

“I thought I worked on speed with her, how is it even possible he can sense her.” Ruby said out loud. 

“You’re the second fastest person in our class Ruby, you may have helped her train, but she’s still not able to be quick enough against this guy.” Yang said off handedly. 

“One of us will have to fight him next if we advance.” Blake said. 

“Heh, you’re right! Then someone can finally put him in the dirt where he belongs.” Yang said excitedly. 

Blake smiled at her before letting her focus return to the fight. She watched as Uraraka kept dodging and taking blows from Bakugou. Some of her classmates got worried, and Jirou covered her eyes. Blake on the other hand moved her eyes up and smirked to herself. 

_No one is watching just what she’s planning. Nice job Uraraka._

She noticed Ruby and Yang were also looking at the sky. Ruby appeared to know the attack as her smile was even bigger than her sister’s. The crowd started to boo Bakugou for how harsh he was to Uraraka. It annoyed Blake because she didn’t get that when she was fighting Dark Shadow nor did Kirishima get that when Yang was pulverizing him. It felt like the crowd was too soft for Uraraka due to her outer appearance. Luckily, Aizawa-sensei’s voice rang throughout the stadium and caused everyone’s eyes to go to the sky. Although Blake didn’t need his help to figure out Uraraka’s real plan. 

“She knew what she was doing the entire time.” She began to explain calmly to her classmates. “Uraraka was piling up as many derbies as possible. She wanted Bakugou to focus on her while she prepared for her final attack.” 

“Bakugou may be fast, but the release of her quirk lets gravity take control, and usually it's a lot faster than the average speed that most people possess, unless you have a speed quirk like Iida and I.” Ruby finished with a smile. 

“The only problem is that he could use his quirk on it and break the material.” Yang growled suddenly and pointed towards Bakugou who lifted his right arm upward. 

“Kaachan is gonna use all his power!” Midoriya cried. 

Blake watched as Bakugou indeed used all his power to explode the rubble falling down on him before knocking Uraraka away as she tried to touch his body. She could see Yang clenched her fist, but also witnessed the blonde’s eyes shining with fascination. In the end Uraraka's body gave out due to all the damage that Bakugou did. The boy freaked out as he shouted for her to finish the fight. Blake felt a little bad for Bakugou because this fight didn't end with a real victory. 

“Uraraka is KO-ed, Bakugou wins the match.” Midnight finally declared. 

Blake watched Uraraka be carried out and frowned. She was very strong and creative in this match. It’s a pity that Bakugou was just too strong and stubborn. 

“I want to fight him.” Blake heard Yang whisper to herself. “I want to kick his ass.” 

She knew Yang would now be determined to beat her in the next match, but Blake wanted to fight him too. The next match between them they were going to go all out. With every trick in the book.

* * *

Katsuki growled to himself after he encountered Deku. Uraraka made up that plan all on her own. He hated to think about it. It annoyed him how she managed to get him off guard. If it wasn’t for his powerful quirk she would have touched him. He gritted his teeth as he thought about the next battle. It would be him and engine legs, then him and either of the girls.

Blondie was someone he couldn’t stand. Her ego pissed him off so much. He wanted to beat her so badly. The fact that her punches kept him from being in first place during the relay irritated him. He hated to admit it, but she got a lot stronger since they first started UA. She didn’t even punch him that hard and that was why he was so angry. Why did she hold back? Why was she holding back? She even held back against Kirishima who could take a tank to the head. 

_God dammit I want to beat the shit out of her, how the fuck did she get so strong!?_

Shadow girl was also someone he didn’t like, she wasn’t as impressive but she was still strong in her own way. Her fight with Crow-face was a bore but she still won. Finally there was that magnet. Magnet was one of the strongest recommended students and he wanted to kill her. If he could kill her everyone would know how strong he was, but even he knew it would take a lot to win against her. With her new attack that he saw in her match with ponytail Katsuki knew she was going to use it more often.

_The way she fucking picked up all that wind and made everything go haywire, fuck she reminded me of that icyhot bastard._

It wasn’t as if he thought Uraraka wasn’t strong, she was. The girl almost made him lose. In the end he wanted to fight her more, but her stupid body fucked it up, the moment she landed on the ground it was over. It pissed him so much because the fight wasn’t over, it only felt like it just began. 

“Arrrhg fucking round cheeks.” Katsuki muttered to himself. 

When he finally made it to where his classmates were Katsuki watched Kaminari stare at him. The idiot then opened his dumb mouth and said something about him being the villan of the story. It pissed him off. Katsuki was no way in hell a villain but he felt like one when he fought round cheeks. Usually he didn’t care what Kaminari said, but something about being a villain ticked him off. He fought the girl like he did with anyone else. Why the fuck dose everyone think she’s fragile.

“Shut the fuck up you idiot or else.” He threatened as he sat down at his seat. 

“I for one applaud you for your performance.” A mocking tone made its way to his ears. 

Katsuki glared at the blonde girl as she smiled at him with her eyes closed. It was fake. 

“You want to go blondie!?” He snarled. 

“Hey! I’m serious, you showed her no mercy. You fought her like any other opponent. Chill will ya I’m giving you a compliment.” Blondie said with an eye roll. 

Katsuki felt even more enraged by her sarcastic remark. With a grunt he got up from his seat and made his way in front of her and shadow girl, bending down to glower at her. 

“I’m going to kill you, if you win blondie.” 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way blasty.” She said before winking at him mockingly. 

Katsuki gritted his teeth and went back to his seat. That girl pissed him off so much. He wanted to see her face in the dirt. He really couldn’t wait to face her and kill her. 

* * *

Mina blinked as Bakugou sat back down in his seat. She leaned forwards towards Yang and whispered in her ear. 

“You really have a death wish don’t you?” She asked. 

Yang turned to meet her eyes and laughed at the remark. She shook her head and then looked at Mina with serious eyes. 

“More like he has a death wish. Look I know how strong he is, but I also know my own strength. Besides I’m not going to cower. That’s not who I am.” She said with a frown. 

“Either way he pretty much made you one of his rivals. You, Midoriya and Todoroki seem to piss him off the most. “ Kyouka said 

“It’s not like I asked for it. I don’t know what I did…” Yang said, confused. 

Mina rolled her eyes at her. She knew Yang caught the boy's attention since the battle trails. When they watched the match against her and her sister. He was too attentive. Usually he didn’t care, but just like NIkos and Todoroki’s fights. Bakugou watched Yang and Ruby’s closely. 

“Just try to keep yourself from pissing him off all the time...is all I’m saying ya know?”

“I guess? It’s his own fault for being angry all the time.” Yang shrugged. 

She wouldn’t argue with that. After being on his team and dealing with his anger, Mina was sure Bakugou had some anger management issues. She didn't understand why he was so full of himself. At least with Yang she got to know the person and even remembered their names. 

_Despite being so powerful and one of the top students, she’s still so nice. Her parents must be amazing._

Mina wondered to herself. Yang nor Ruby talk about their parents. They tried to keep family matters out of their conversations. It fascinated Mina that she never saw Yang’s parents when everyone was being picked up at dance class when they were young. The girl was always alone. 

* * *

She walked down the tunnels and met him there. He didn’t say a word to her and asked for the phone. She nodded and took out the device and handed it to him. The fights that her boss wanted were of Xiao Long vs Kirishima, Todoroki vs Valkyrie, Belladonna vs Tokoyami and Nikos vs Yaoyorozu. 

“These people sure are strong huh?” He mused to himself the hood he wore didn’t allow her to see his facial features. 

“Of course they are, why do you think I’m filming all this? It’s for our advantage.” She argued as she crossed her arms. 

“Just continue to get as much information, she’ll be expecting a call soon. Oh and don’t be too hard on Nikos. You might give her nightmares.” He smirked. 

“Just go before anyone catches you.” She muttered and pushed him. 

She watched him leave and groaned to herself. She needed to get ready for her next fight. 


	11. Don't Hold Back, Fight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang vs Blake and Pyrrha vs Emerald. This was a very tough chapter to edit, I had a lot of trouble showing than telling. I am really trying to keep everyone in character. However I seriously hate how Hori made people mad at Bakugou for fighting Uraraka seriously. So I tried to lessen that. The rwby characters in general are very feminist and I can't see them care about that kind of stuff. I also put in spoilers from v2- onward. hinting about Yang's bloodline and the tensions between the Faunus and humans. I know I should added more Weiss and Blake tension, but I decided to focus on the fights instead. 
> 
> Regarding Pyrrha, she was always known as a prodigy and scholar. Before attending Beacon she was known as "Mistral's pride". She won many competitions and the reason Ozpin was so interested in her was because of her skills.

The next fight was about to begin and Yang and her classmates watched as Midoriya and Todoroki walked up onto the arena. She overheard Uraraka, Tokoyami and Iida speaking to each other and noticed Bakugou watching the match closely. She took a breath of her own and looked down at her arm. The burns had cooled down after her fight with Kirishima but she could still feel the flames flickering dangerously over her skin. 

When Yang was younger she used to burn herself and her clothes a lot when activating her quirk. Taiyang had taken on painstakingly teaching her to control the heat in her blood from a very young age. In the last two weeks Taiyang taught her how to use the heat to create an even stronger impact on her opponents. It was because of his endurance and strength training regime that she managed to get this far. 

_It was painful though. Every day it felt like my body was on fire.. It hurt so much I could barely move after school and yet he still got me to train._

She balled her hand into a fist and cringed a little at the cut that was now on her palm. Kirishima managed to make her bleed. It was an impressive feat in and of itself. It had made her gain a lot of respect for him.

“Look! The match is about to start!” Mineta yelled, as everyone turned their attention to the arena. 

Yang watched as the fight began. The moment Present Mic said go Todoroki stepped down on the ground with concentration just like when he fought Nora. He sent a wave of ice towards Midoriya who stopped it with that red glow on his fingers. Yang had to squint her eyes to see the damage the quirk had caused afterwards. 

_More like he literally broke them...again. He really needs to learn how to control his quirk and get it to stop breaking its body._

Another Ice attack was thrown at Midoriya, and he had the same counter. Yang grit her teeth and tightened her hold on the bar in front of her. Midoriya had to do something else. Why didn’t he use the ice to his advantage? Then again if she was in his position she would also punch the ice out of the way, but unlike him she could take the pain. 

As the fight continued, hurried footsteps came down the stairs nearby. Kirishima had just returned from Recovery Girl and was currently making his way to everyone. He looked upset before his eyes locked with Yang’s briefly. The smile he flashed towards her made her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Despite losing and missing the final two matches of the first round, Kirishima still considered her his friend. 

“Ah crap, I can’t believe I missed both fights.” He grumbled as he walked further to the front. 

“Welcome back from the dead dude.” Sero said with a smile. 

“I’m still amazed that you got your ass kicked by a girl.” Kaminiari quipped. 

“Dude, Xiao Long is manly! You shouldn’t underestimate her just cause she’s a girl.” Kirishima groaned with annoyance. 

Yang couldn’t help but feel pride from what he said. A small grin formed on her lips but quickly faded when she heard another yell come from Midoriya. She turned her attention back towards the match but kept her ears attentive to the conversation that was currently happening. 

“Yeah Kaminari, don’t you remember when you were used as an accessory for Valkyrie when she kicked everyone’s ass at the U.S.J?” Kyouka’s voice teased with a hint of smugness. 

“Dude...what?” Sero asked next to Kaminari.

“Hey! I thought we were gonna keep that between us!” Kaminari whined, embarrassed. 

“What? That you were my backpack for the entire fight?” Nora questioned. “Or that we both got saved by Pyrrha?” 

“G-Guys come on!” Kaminari begged. 

Yang heard the soft giggles that escaped from Kyouka and couldn’t help but smile at the sound. Any girl's laughter was always a treat but the one that came from Kyouka was adorable. Yang sighed at her current musing. She really needed to focus on the fight not on pretty girls in her class. Luckily for her, someone else thought the same thing. 

“Shut the fuck up electric rat!” Bakugou yelled as he glared at the fight that was going on. 

Yang couldn't help but agree as everyone quieted down. She observed Todoroki with interest as he once again stepped on the cement to produce his ice quirk. His power had always caught Yang’s attention since the battle trails and she had a desire to fight him one day. 

She let her eyes go to Blake briefly and noticed the hardened look she had on her features as she narrowed her eyes on Todoroki. Blake had been watching him a lot lately. Yang didn’t understand why but something must have happened at the U.S.J. To cause the current tension between them. Yang had been annoyed ever since Mina brought it up during the shopping trip. She understood why Blake was close to Tokoyami but, why did she have an interest in Todoroki too?

_Maybe she’s also interested in his quirk, that could be it._

Yang then noticed that Todoroki’s body started to shake after another powerful ice attack. He looked exhausted while Midoriya on the other hand stood tall with his broken hand. It honestly surprised her how much Midoriya could withstand the damages done to his body. Yang had taken years to develop a strong threshold for all the pain stored up within. She frowned at how easily the boy had grown since the first day.

The fight was really engaging and Yang was learning a lot about each of their powers. Although The two boys were now at a stand still as Midoriya was currently asking Todoroki why he was only using one half of his power.

“That’s right, the ice on his body is slowing him down.” Yang said out loud after hearing Midoriya’s voice.

Bakugou looked her way and then he touched his chin as he zeroed in on the match. Yang unconsciously leaned further in her seat to analyze the situation. Especially the current problem with Todoroki’s quirk.

_The ice is slowly taking over his right side, the more he uses it the more it takes over. It’s like a meter in those video games I play with Ruby. He’d need to rest himself to fuel it back up and stop the effect from hurting him. Is Todoroki crazy, he should use his left side. That would make it a lot easier to win._

Yang’s eyes widened when Midoriya’s arm suddenly glowed with that red x mark again. He ran towards Todoroki and used it to punch him hard in the stomach. The contact of the attack had made Todoroki skid almost out of bounds. The crowd around them went wild but Yang could tell Todoroki wasn’t done yet. She noticed him getting up and attacking Midoriya again with his ice half. She anxiously dug her fingernail deeper into her skin as she realized how slow the shots were becoming. It was no surprise that Midoriya could easily dodge them now but his body was a wreck. All his wounds appeared like they wouldn't be able to heal after this. 

_What the hell is he doing, those injuries might become permanent!_

Yang knew she was being hypocritical but her quirk was made to take damage from an opponent. When she spared her dad or Ruby, she would sometimes end up hurting herself badly from their attacks. She even broke her bones a couple of times when she forgot to activate it. Midoriya though didn’t have that and it’s his own quirk that is hurting him the most. 

_That fool, he needs to be careful..._

The fight kept on going like that. With two reckless boys trying to prove a point between their own ideologies. Yang honestly felt the need to go up there and hit their heads together at this point. They were going to kill themselves if they kept this up. They needed to think clearly not emotionally. 

“Damn did anyone just notice Todoroki getting more icy?” Kaminari gawked. “At this rate he’ll become a human popsicle by the end of the fight.”

Upon hearing him Yang narrowed her eyes when she noticed the ice that had spread further upon Todoroki’s right side. Even if she didn’t know either of the boys well, they were still her classmates and she hated to see them hurt each other like this. When a cry came from Midoriya, Yang watched with bated breath as he punched Todoroki towards the edge.

It was quiet and Yang noticed small sparks coming out from Todoroki. Her eyes widened and immediately stood up from her seat. A toothy smile was on her face as Todoroki inflamed his left side. The whole arena exploded with flames and Yang felt the heat hit her own skin, feeling rejuvenated as she watched the fire with intensity. 

“He’s using his left side!” Uraraka shouted as the flames almost hit her where she was sitting. 

Yang was practically hanging off the bar as she cheered for both boys. At this point both Midoriya and Todoroki were going to give it their all with their final attacks. The fire and ice went together as Midoriya jumped with all his strength. Just as they were about to collide cement walls were built in front of them and created a huge bang in the middle that nearly destroyed the whole arena.

Yang pulled herself back and quickly shielded Kyouka from the strong gust that was caused by the explosion. She heard Mineta complain but ignored him. Instead she let her eyes go to Pyrrha who kept watching the fight as her irises swirled with concern and fear. It was the first time Yang saw real vulnerability from the recommended student and honestly it frightened her.

The smoke cleared slowly as everyone waited to see the aftermath of the explosion. Yang looked down and blushed slightly as Kyouka continued to cling onto her. It felt nice and Yang had the sudden urge to tighten her hold around the smaller girl but decided against it when Kyouka started to pull away. 

“Guys, Look!” Mina gasped. “Todoroki is still standing!”

Yang followed her friend's eyes and saw Todoroki in the middle of the torn up ring with Midoriya nowhere in sight. Midnight, who was also out of the ring, slowly made her way to Todoroki. She brushed off some of the debris from her hair before lifting her hand to declare the winner of the match. 

“Midoriya is out of bounds, Todoroki wins the match,” she called out. 

No one knew what to say after that. It was quite an impactful fight. Not just physically but emotionally. It made Yang more than ready for her match with Blake. 

* * *

Emerald watched the fight and stopped the recording. This was better than the last fight with Todoroki. He was becoming someone that she thought would be the perfect pawn, though he was too emotional and this fight proved it. Still the destructive nature of his quirk as well as Bakugou could cause a lot of harm. With that noted. Emerald got up from her seat and made her way to the ring. Her next fight was with Nikos and she knew she had to win fast. Unlike Kaminari, Nikos was smart and she probably figured out how her quirk worked by now. Emerald sighed. She stretched her arms as she went down into the stadium and towards the dark tunnel. 

She casually walked through the tunnel and closed her eyes as she thought up some strategies. Nikos was a skillful fighter and barely uses her quirk in battle. She was a powerhouse in quirkless combat and used that advantage with her quirk so that her attacks were effective. Emerald would have to be ready to dodge every attack thrown at her as well as keep herself away from anything made of metal. However, there was also that last attack she did on Yaoyorozu. That attack was powerful and it knocked the other girl out of the arena similar to how Todoroki just knocked Midoriya out. 

_Maybe just as powerful, those two are really similar in a lot of ways._

Emerald frowned and thought about it further as she made it outside to the roaring crowd. She let her eyes focus on Nikos who had waited for her upon the now fixed arena. She looked serious and determined. It irritated Emerald but also made her feel somewhat excited. Nikos saw her as a threat as someone she wanted to fight. It was odd but comforting. 

Present Mic began introducing them. Afterwards they made it to the opposite sides of the ring. 

* * *

Momo watched carefully as the next fighters made their way onto the arena. She looked at Belladonna and Yang to get a glimpse of what they were thinking. Both of them looked unreadable as they watched Pyrrha and Sustrai. 

“Do you think she has a plan?” She asked them softly. 

“No, She’s going to wing this one.” Belladonna replied curtly. 

“Sustrai is too much of a wildcard, none of us besides Kaminari fought her.” Yang finished and moved her eyes to the boy in question. 

“Hey Kaminari, what were Sustrai’s hallucinations like?” Jirou asked for them. 

“Ah crap, you really want me to relive that?” He started. “They were intense, like I really thought she was attacking me, and she was good too. Really fast.”

“Interesting.” Momo mumbled to herself. 

“Pyrrha better be careful and avoid any eye contact with her, kero” Asui said bluntly. 

Momo couldn’t help but agree. Pyrrha was very strong, but Sustrai was a tricky opponent. 

* * *

“BEGIN!” Present Mic yelled. 

Pyrrha reached her hand out and immediately got herself a metal plate in her possession. Sustrai ran towards her with the intent to knock her out. She shielded herself from the attack and managed to damage the other’s fist. 

“So you are going to be using that for the whole time huh? Figures.” Sustrai said as she glared at her. 

“Much like the Greek hero Perseus I will be using this as my shield against your eyes.” She said simply.

“Ah, so you’re a nerd too?” Sustrai mocked her as she rolled her eyes with a bored expression. 

Pyrrha ignored her as she kept the shield in front of her eyes and blindly managed to kick the girl with her left leg. She heard a grunt and pulled the shield up briefly to see if Sustrai was still in the ring. She cursed when her eyes almost met those dangerous red ones. 

She threw the shield at Sustrai who only dodged it quickly. Pyrrha then caught it using her quirk and brought it back to her arm. Sustrai then made a move and started to punch or kick her as much as she could to get Pyrrha out of bounds but before she stepped over the threshold. Pyrrha jumped over her and landed on the ground before throwing her shield for a second time. This time it hit Sustrai in the back before returning to her side. 

Pyrrha took a moment to control her heartbeat before she ran towards Sustrai and closed her eyes as she aimed another attack towards the girl's nose. At that instant she tried to picture something that made her happy when suddenly an old memory of her father overcame her senses. She remembered vividly the exact words he told her when she decided she wanted to be a hero. 

  
  


***

  
  


_“I want to be a hero because I want to save people!” a five year old Pyrrha said as she looked at her father with big green eyes. “I want to save everyone in the world! Because that’s what heroes do right!?”_

_“Is that only the reason dear?” Her father asked her and put his hand on her head._

_“Of course! I have a good quirk that can save people and fight the bad guys. I know I have to work super hard, but I know I can do it! I’ll study and everything.” She said stubbornly._

_“What if there is a villain you can’t beat or is also struggling, would you save them too?” He asked._

_“Yes! If there is good in a villain's heart I’ll definitely save them because all they want is a friend and I’m a good friend daddy.” Pyrrha smiled as she looked at him._

_“Then you’re going to be a fine hero Pyrrha, I believe in you!” He declared._

***

The flashback made Pyrrha pull away as Sustrai fell to the cement. Her father hadn’t been alive since she was eleven. She panted as Sustrai picked herself up and wipe the blood from her nose. 

“Huh, I didn’t know you were strong too, typical for a hero huh?” She sneered with disgust.

Pyrrha continued to avoid eye contact and looked away. Sustrai was fast and Pyrrha had to be careful. Her attacks were fluid and she almost kicked her a few times. 

“You act as if you aren’t one?” Pyrrha questioned. 

“So what, my quirk had always helped me since I was a kid, though you wouldn’t get it, right rich girl?” Sustrai spat out, showing her true colors. 

Pyrrha closed her eyes and turned towards her. The last thing she wanted to hear was that she was rich like the other recommended students. Pyrrha was recommended for her talent by her own accord, her parents didn’t have any connections to heroes. She was in a lot of competitions similar to this that got her recognized. Course only a few people knew about it. 

“I’m actually pretty average in this economy. My mom works late and my da---” She began and shook her head. 

_Why was I about to speak about my father, why am I even bothering to talk to her._

She opened her eyes and was surprised by Sustrai running towards her with the intent to kill. Her fist made contact with Pyrrha’s cheek and she staggered. She then felt the girl grab her by her arm and flip her over. However, Pyrrha used her quirk at the last minute to get another plate from the stadium’s wall and smash it against Sustrai body. Both of them ended up on the ground and struggled to get back up. 

* * *

Blake watched the fight with everyone and tilted her head. “It seems they’re not just fighting physically but also emotionally. Sustrai is trying to manipulate Nikos like when Shinsou did to Midoriya.”

“She is avoiding as much eye contact as possible, but how long can she keep it up?” Kirishima said out loud as he stood on the stairs. 

“As long as she can use her quirk without going over the limit she’ll be fine.” Yang assured them but clearly had worry in her eyes. 

“Do you think she might use her Magnetic Pulse attack?” Yaoyorozu asked thoughtfully. “She used it on me, but that was a last resort kind of thing. I don’t think Sustrai is that powerful for her to use it.”

Blake nodded her head. Nikos’ heart was too soft to allow herself to use an attack that destructive. Sustrai was still a lot weaker than her and relied heavily on her quirk to achieve victory. In the end Blake believes that Nikos will focus solely on Sustrai’s speed, which was clearly her strongest aspect. 

“ You're right, Nikos seems to be using most of her time tiring Sustrai out.” Blake pointed out. 

It was true. Sustrai was beginning to lose her stamina and as she tried to take the upper hand. Nikos used her quirk to slam a metal plate into her before Sustrai could even sense it coming. 

* * *

“I’m sorry but I have to win.” Nikos declared as she finally got up and picked up Emerald with one arm. 

Emerald growled as she felt herself be lifted up by the taller recommended student. If only she was stronger. She was smart, but Nikos was as well. Which was why the fight was a lot more challenging then the one with Dunce Face. Emerald sighed to herself at her predicament. She then moved her eyes to the arm that was carrying her and decided after some careful consideration to bite it. 

_Ugh, I’m going to brush my teeth for a long time to get the taste out of my mouth..._

Nikos yelped at the sudden attack by Emerald’s teeth and pulled her arm towards her chest with disgust. Emerald smirked as she made her escape away from the distressed opponent. Her pace was sloppy and she realized she couldn't use her quirk because she over exerted herself. Much like everyone else's power Emerald’s quirk needed stamina to manipulate the senses of the person it targets. Nikos throughout the whole match had avoided her eyes at all cost, which was reckless but clever. It took all of Emerald to not compliment the prideful girl. Her insecurities was the bane of her existence and she’d be damned to show Nikos any of it. 

The rest of the fight was brute force and hand to hand. Emerald dodged many of the Nikos’ attacks but even her speed started to slow down. Nikos had the audience cheering for her and it annoyed Emerald to no end as she tried to kick the girl but missed as she jumped away, using her shield as a launchpad. Nikos then flipped in the air and landed on the ground. She then lifted her hands that glowed black with her quirk and used it to control both metal plates before hitting Emerald square in the stomach. 

The air left her body as she flew out of the ring and glared at Nikos lividly. Nikos then covered her mouth with her hands and yelled the stupidest thing Emerald had ever heard. An apology. 

_Why the fuck did she apologies!? “I’m sorry?” Bitch you won!_

“Sustrai is out of bounds, Nikos wins the battle.” Midnight declared. 

Emerald groaned and lifted herself from the ground as Nikos went down to her to offer her hand. She glared at it and then at the girl’s bright eyes. Emerald was so angry that she didn’t even get to use her quirk. Nikos tired her out before she could even try. 

“Good fight!” Nikos said with a smile. 

“Shut up.” Emerald snarled and slapped the hand away.

She ignored the hurt in Nikos’ eyes and shoved her hands into her pockets as she exited the arena. Emerald felt humiliated, she could have won if she had a better quirk. She knew she had more skills than half the people in the Heroes Course. It frustrated her that she had to work twice the amount just because her quirk didn’t work on those stupid machines in the practical exam. 

_Wait...I shouldn’t even care about what those assholes think! Shit what is that girl doing to me...dammit I’m starting to like being here. Focus Emerald you’re in UA for a purpose! Don't let this fight or that girl make you think otherwise._

Emerald closed her eyes as more emotions started to make their way into her, it was strange she wanted to be friends with Nikos and yet she knew it wouldn’t last. She frowned suddenly, wondering to herself just what she was doing. Why was she even here?

“Hey, kid can I talk to you?” A low voice called out to her. “Your fights were impressive and I’d like to make something out of you.”

She stopped walking and turned her head slightly to see one of the Hero Course teachers Vlad King stare at her with a serious look on his face. He motioned her to follow him and Emerald couldn’t help but follow. Maybe she had accomplished her mission after all. 

* * *

Pyrrha calmly walked back to where everyone was waiting. She couldn’t help but think about Sustrai, the look in her eyes held so much hatred but respect. The general studies student really gave a good fight and Pyrrha was thankful. Although she did wonder what would have happened if she allowed the girl to use her quirk on her. 

_I’d probably hurt her if she used the same hallucination she gave Kaminari...wait NO I would never hurt anyone._

For the first time fear struck Pyrrha and her heartbeat quickened for a second. She shook her head vigorously to rid herself of the gruesome thoughts that plagued her mind and took a deep breath before looking back at the stands to where her classmates were. When her nervousness had finally calmed down Pyrrha decided to ignore her brain and stepped into the sunlight. A cheer was the first thing she heard as she greeted everyone. 

“Man, that was a nerve racking fight to watch Nikos, how did you even manage to fight without looking at her.” Sero complemented as Pyrrha returned to her seat next to Momo. 

“I had to think of ways to use my quirk that I usually wouldn’t do, it took a lot of thinking outside of the box.” She answered with a shrug. “She also wasn’t that bad, I think I made an impact on her like Midoriya did with Shinsou!”

“Typical Pyrrha you always look at the best in people.” Yang laughed at her. 

“Well she really wasn’t that bad!” She argued. 

“She threatened our whole class before, exactly how is she not that bad?” Weiss said with a raised eyebrow. 

“I don’t know, I can just tell.” Pyrrha finished. 

The rest of her peers rolled their eyes at her and Pyrrha knew she had a generous heart but, she really did think that Sustrai wasn’t that bad. With the way she spoke about her childhood Pyrrha could feel the sadness in her voice. It struck something in her as Sustrai took the defeat more personally than Pyrrha first anticipated. However, before she could dive further into her thoughts about the aftermath of her fight. Belladonna and Yang had gotten up from their seats for the next match which had completely distracted Pyrrha and made her focus shift away from Sustrai. 

_Ohh! This one will be interesting. Agility VS Strength._

Excited, she leaned forward in her seat. Pyrrha was interested to see how strong the two girls had become after the last two weeks of training. She smiled as she pictured several different ways that the match could end. She was so busy with her analyzing that a growl from behind startled her. Quickly Pyrrha let her eyes land on Bakugou who looked more attentive than usual and instantly understood why. If either of them won they’ll be his opponent in the next round

_That reminds me..._

Her sudden glee deflated as she thought about her next match against Todoroki. Pyrrha needed to strategize and as much as she wanted to watch the fight between her friends she knew that she had to clear her mind. With a sigh of defeat she got up from her seat and said she was going to the waiting room. 

* * *

Yang looked ahead as she heard Present Mic ramble the introduction for the fight. Her and Blake spoke earlier as they waited to be called. Blake told her not to hold any of her strength back. Though Yang had a feeling the girl was going to dodge every punch she throws. 

She glanced at Blake who stood tall and ready for the battle. They took their sides in the ring, and just stared at each other. Yang still didn’t know what she felt about all this, about being a hero and her goal in life. It was all just a blur mixed together. After all she only enrolled into UA for Ruby.

Blake on the other hand was passionate about being a hero. Yang noticed from the get go that Blake was very intense when it comes to politics especially regarding the Faunus Movement and the White Fang. They didn’t talk about it much but when they did Blake was very clear with what she believed in. It made Yang wonder why Blake was like this as she continued to stare at her until they heard Present Mic’s yell.

“BEGIN!”

The two dashed towards each other and Yang went for a swing. As predicted Blake used a copy on her. Yang, who also had strong reflexes, immediately turned around and blocked the kick that Blake aimed at her head. She held it with her palm and quickly did a roundhouse kick towards the other girl. However, her friend disappeared again and Yang turned her body to catch Blake’s fist with her left palm before elbowing her in the chest. 

Blake staggered back and glared harshly at her. Yang didn’t know what she did wrong until she realized that her body wasn’t burning like it should have. Usually that indicated she was holding back. Which wasn’t something that normally happened, especially during fights. 

_Strange what made it do that?_

“Yang don’t you dare treat me like a delicate fighter. I told you to use your full strength.” Blake growled before charging towards her with another attack. 

“I’m sorry…” She mumbled to herself in frustration and clenched her fists tightly. 

Yang blocked Blake with her arm as her quirk finally activated itself from the many punches and kicks her opponent was landing on her. When she felt the burning sensation on her right arm she punched Blake square in the face. Her friend skidded across the ring and almost went out of bounds but flipped from the edge and landed back gracefully like a cat. Blake was now breathing hard, but had a smile on her face. 

Her own expression matched until blood trickled down Blake’s nose. Yang felt worried for a second and took a step forward. Blake on the other hand wiped it off easily before motioning Yang to continue with a smirk playing on her lips. Yang snarled at Blake’s smudged attitude but took the offer anyway. She ran towards the confident girl and aimed her fist at Blake’s shoulder, only to be confused by the fleeting shadow that came in contact with it. 

_No way!? Another damn copy! I thought she could only use a certain amount? What the hell was she up to these last two weeks..._

Yang was beyond upset that Blake could trick her so easily. Her mind was racing with many thoughts as she tried to think of a way to take control of the fight. However, it was her instincts that won and Yang immediately let her body guide her. With renewed clarity Yang heard the faintest of sounds and reached out to the front of Blake’s jacket before flipping her to the ground. The impact that she caused made the cement crack as Blake groaned and closed her eyes for a bit. 

Yang’s body screamed in protest as she backed away and waited for Blake’s next move. Unlike Kirishima, Blake's attacks were making her use too much of her body. With Kirishima she could punch him as much as she wanted until he overexerted himself, but with Blake she had to think more and not just depend on her strength. It was exhausting and Yang felt like her brain may explode by the amount of strategies overwhelming it as she took another deep breath. 

Her current state must have caught Blake’s attention because the girl was moving towards her at an alarming rate. Her friend’s reflexes were top notch and it made Yang’s muscles act up and work overtime. With a grunt she blocked another kick and crouched down to swipe Blake’s feet. Only for Blake to notice it and flip herself out of the way. 

“Incredible, these two may not be glitz and glamour like Midoriya and Todoroki, but they sure are making everyone alert and focused on who’s going to win! Not to mention that Xiao Long’s mega punches haven't even made an appearance yet!” Present Mic said in the intercom. 

The two continued to swing, dodge, block and kick throughout the match neither of them were going to back down as their eyes met with pure determination in each. 

“I’m not going to lose Yang, I have a purpose to be here and you are in my way.” Blake said coolly. 

“I may be here for the thrill, but I’m also here because I want to help people.” Yang declared. “And because I want to prove to my dad it’s okay to be a damn hero.”

The two breathed heavily and Yang had enough. She punched the ground hard and the impact caused her body to ignite in golden flames. The flames singed her uniform pants as she inhaled the fire that started to burn up all around her. All while past memories fueled her current conviction.

***

_“Why do you hate All Might Daddy?” Eight years old Yang asked timidly to her father._

_“I don’t hate him, I just don’t like him or trust him, what he’s doing is wrong..” Taiyang said as he drank his liquor on the table._

_“But he saves people and Uncle Qrow is friends with hi--”_

_“Your uncle is an idiot Yang.” Taiyang said with hopelessness in his eyes._

_“Why are you always so mean to him. Why are you always trying to hide your emotions, why can’t you just tell me the truth!?” Yang demanded as she looked at him with big round eyes._

_“You’re just as stubborn as your mother…” He muttered and got up from where he was._

_Yang watched him leave and stared at the picture he was holding. It had Mom, him, Uncle Qrow and…_

_“Is he talking about her…” She whispered to herself as she stared at the mysterious woman in the middle of the picture._

***

The memory was too painful to handle as she pushed through it. She glared at Blake and motioned her to attack, the girl did and their fists collided, causing a huge rumble within the ring. The cement around them broke into pieces as a crater pushed their feet down on the ground. Yang’s eyes burned red as Blake’s eyes sparked with new vigor. 

* * *

“Holy shit this got serious.” Kaminari said out loud as he watched the fight with wide eyes. 

“Whoa Xiao Long is really going over now, Belladonna better watch it.” Sero said next to him. 

“I wonder what they’re talking about, kero.” Tsuyu asked. "Yang looks really upset."

“They’re talking about my dad…” Ruby said suddenly as she watched her sister struggle with her emotions.

Everyone turned to her and Kyouka raised an eyebrow at the girl. She heard about the father, but neither of them talked about him a lot. They keep him away from any subject especially regarding pro-heroes. She knew that their uncle was Omen, but their father must also be a hero with the way they are acting. 

“Why the fuck would they?” Bakugou finally asked, which surprised everyone. 

Ruby looked like a deer caught in the headlight as she winced at the sudden attention everyone gave her. She scratched the back of her head and nervously played with the collar of her gym uniform. Kyouka wanted to comfort her but she too was interested in what the younger girl was about to say. 

“Ugh, might as well say it. Our dad is an ex pro-hero, his quirk had been passed down to Yang. It’s not technically the same since her mom also had a quirk, but she mostly got dad’s genes.” Ruby confessed as she sighed in defeat. 

“Wait aren’t you two sisters, what do you mean by her mom!?” Kaminari asked clearly confused by the whole situation. 

Kyouka groaned to herself. It was very obvious to anyone that the two were half siblings, they looked nothing alike except for their facial expressions.

“Huh! Are those cat ears!?” Mineta shouted. "We had a Nekomimi in our class all this time!?"

* * *

Blake jumped away after the impact and glared at Yang. Her friend was still building up a charge to use against her and Blake was a sitting duck because she couldn’t use any more of her traces as decoys. At this point of the fight she had to rely on her own strengths. Yang wasn’t going to hit a hundred anytime soon as her body began to extinguish with her right arm glowing brightly. Blake was ready as she put her arms in a defensive position only to let her guard down upon suddenly hearing the voices in the crowd more clearly. 

_That’s strange this would only occur if…_

Blake watched with shock as her ribbon fell to the ground. Her eyes widened as she suddenly didn’t care about the match, her hands shot up to her head and touched the exposed area. Her ears weren't hidden, they were revealed in front of everyone. The impact with Yang's punch burned up her jacket and the wind must have blown the bow off.

“Blake!?” Yang shouted with her fist no longer glowing gold her face expressing confusion as they both heard the noises become louder and sharper. 

“She’s a Faunus!? But her quirk is not related to it at all!?” Someone shouted. 

“She looks familiar, I think I saw like posters of her once..” Another person muttered. 

Blake could hear everyone around her and it was starting to give her a headache. Her ears pressed hard against her skull and she felt tears beginning to build up at the back of her eyes. She wanted to run away and never look back but that would only prove Adam right about her being a coward. 

“Oh shut up, who the fuck cares.” Yang yelled and caused everyone to stop talking. “It doesn’t matter what she is, I want to fight her!” 

Blake felt her heart beat fast and a small smile made its way to her lips. Her ears perked back up and she wasn’t afraid anymore. Yang didn’t care what she was all she wanted to do was fight her. To her Blake was a friend and equal. 

“It doesn’t matter what species or race you are, we all live in this society as one and should see each other as one and the same. In battle heroes only care about how powerful and skilled you are. They will work alongside anyone who has the desire to do good in this world.” Aizawa-sensei said bluntly from the intercom. “Never judge anyone by their outer appearance, always look for what’s inside of them.”

As her teacher’s voice rang in her ears Blake ran towards Yang to finish their match. Yang once again had activated her quirk and readied herself for her final attack. When they both collided Blake was punched hard in the stomach and went flying out of the ring. She landed on the ground and looked up at Yang with a genuine smile. 

_She doesn’t care, for the first time I feel normal even without my bow._

“Belladonna is out of bounds, Xiao Long wins the match.”

Yang jumped down from the ring and pulled Blake back up. She curiously looked at her ears and smiled at them. Blake felt herself blush and looked away, her ears always embarrassed her. They were the opposite of her usual aesthetics. 

“Thank you.” She said firmly. 

“No problem, that was one hell of a fight, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” Yang said proudly. 

* * *

As she and Blake walked off together, Yang saw Qrow leaning against the wall inside the stadium. He gave her a certain look and she immediately excused herself After Blake accepted it Yang pocketed her hands and walked over to her uncle, motioning him to follow her outside. When they reached a certain distance from the UA stadium, Qrow then handed her a phone. 

“I know you’d rather be with your friends firecracker, but he wants to talk, don’t blow up the premise if he pisses you off.” He said coolly. 

Yang glared at Qrow’s phone for a few seconds before she took it hastily from him. She pressed it to her ear and on the other side was her father. 

**_“You were sloppy in that fight with the Belladonna kid.”_** Taiyang's voice came loud and clear. 

“Yeah well my speed sucks compared to her.” Yang grumbled. 

This was Taiyang’s terrible way of saying good job. With Yang her dad always used tough love unlike Ruby who he had coddled since she was born. Yang always figured it was because she was younger but as they got older she realized it was something different entirely. The reason why they were both treated differently was the fact that her dad had two lovers. One who broke his heart and another who was forcefully taken from his life. Her mother was the one that hurt Taiyang immensely before he fell in love with Summer. 

**_“Still we’ll need to train on that.”_ ** He said calmly. 

Yang wondered hopefully if he’ll say something if she can beat Bakugou in the next round. She was tired of always getting the burnt end of the stick. Yang just wanted her dad to be proud of her openly, not see her as someone that harmed him. 

“Don’t you have anything else to say Taiyang?” She asked impatiently as her voice cracked a little. 

**_“Be careful against that Bakugou kid if he wins his next fight, he can make you overexert yourself.“_** He answered seriously. 

Yang gritted her teeth, that was not what she wanted to hear. Of course she knew Bakugou had the capability to do that. She’s been watching how Bakugou fought in his previous matches attentively. Yang honestly hated when her dad used that tone of voice but instead of arguing she bit her lip to hold back her tongue. 

“Right...bye.” She mumbled and hung up. 

Yang stood there and looked up at Qrow who waited for his phone. He looked at her sadly and she suddenly felt him pat her head affectionately. She closed her eyes as she felt his hand press against her hair. He hadn't done that to her in a while. 

“It’s not that he doesn’t care, he just wants you to be careful, I know he’s proud of you firecracker.” Qrow said softly. 

Yang nodded her head and continued to stay silent. Qrow pulled his hand away from her and walked back to where the other heroes waited for him. Yang sighed as she turned around only to meet the emotionless eyes of Shouto Todoroki. 

_Shit was he watching? Damn don’t say a word._

Todoroki was up against the stadium near the same place she was with Qrow. It was just a coincidence that they were both there at the same time. Unfortunately for her he must have seen the intimate exchange between her and her uncle. Yang hurriedly let her face become unreadable as she casually walked past him, hoping he’d say nothing. To her relief Todoroki ignored her but she could tell he already knew that something was up with her and Qrow. 

As she continued to walk up the stairs inside the stadium Yang winced briefly at an ache that shot through her right arm. She had been using little dosages of her quirk throughout this whole festival and taught herself to not use her full power. She took a heavy breath to control the burning heat that wanted to break free of her skin. If she actually used the full charge of her quirk the aftermath would be disastrous. 

_Two more matches and then I can rest._

That was what she should think about, not Taiyang and his weird way of being a father. Yang was determined to beat Bakugou and permanently make herself known to the hero society. Ruby and her friends' influence had grown on her and Yang wanted to be a hero not just for the thrill of it but to be a role model to anyone who ever felt abandoned.

When she finally got back to where her classmates were sitting. They instantly greeted and congratulated her. Yang smiled at them and casually made her way back to her seat. She honestly didn’t want her friends to worry about why she didn’t come back with Blake. Yang just had to act natural and then everything would go back to normal. 

“That was some sick moves out there. Belladonna had you on your toes but you somehow won.” Valkyrie said. 

“Yeah but she’s up against Bakugou next, and he’s going to kill her.” Kaminari said seriously. 

“Not if she kills him first, kero.” Tsuyu argued. 

“I’ve noticed though, you two are still able to use your quirks even when you move. How do you do that? “ Kirishima asked as he continued to watch Bakugou fight Iida. 

Kirishima winced as Bakugou managed to blow up the other engine on Iida’s right leg and win the fight. Yang watched closely and noticed he wasn’t as fast as Iida but still won. She thought about her previous fight with Blake and strategized what she would do against Bakugou. She couldn’t just rely on her strength or stealth due to his strong reflexes. 

_I should make him throw as many blasts as possible, but avoid them until the end. I learned with Blake that with enough speed, it can make your opponent exhaust themselves---Wait, did Kirishima ask me a question? Shit I should answer that._

“Lots of breathing techniques.” Yang answered finally as her eyes never left the match. “Remember both of us have heat based quirks, mine just happens to absorb attacks. Although because of that I can’t shoot things like him or Todoroki. That can only work when I wear my gauntlets.” 

“Breathing techniques? You have to breathe differently?” Kirishima asked, amazed. “Huh, so that explains why he breathes each time he throws an attack.” 

Yang shrugged, it wasn’t that impressive. That was like basic training for her when she was little. She didn’t understand why her classmates thought it was so cool. It annoyed her and as she was about to brush Kirishima off, Yang sensed Ruby’s anxiousness. She turned to her sister and carefully observed the younger girl as she noticed the droplets of sweat upon Ruby’s face. 

_That’s strange, what's bothering her?_

Yang then took notice that Blake wasn’t with them and frowned even further. She had wanted to talk to her about their match, but figured Blake wanted to be alone for a while before returning to the class, especially after the revelation in the ring. Still Yang couldn’t help notice how everyone was looking at her and it was getting on her nerves. 

“Why are you guys staring? Is there something on my face?” She joked as she tried to control her simmering anger. 

Ojiro looked at everyone and sighed before he met her eyes. “Rose told us about your dad, he’s an ex pro-hero right?” He asked wearily. 

She let her eyes meet Ruby and her little sister squeaked before looking away. Yang sighed loudly. Her classmates had learned more about her today than she originally wanted. However, it wasn’t that bad and none of them appeared to have figured out just who their father was. In the end it was still a secret. 

“Yeah he is, but he’s also a pain in my ass.” Yang said, annoyed.

She was still upset with Taiyang and Yang was allowed to complain about it. Her classmates stared at her strangely and Yang only gave them a big smile. Sometimes she actually enjoyed keeping them in the dark. 

_Still I do appreciate their worry. These guys really are something else._

Yang shrugged at the thought and got up just as Pyrrha did. The next matches were about to start soon and she wanted to rest before her match with Bakugou. She waved at the others and walked back down into the stadium next to Pyrrha. Just as Yang was about to turn with the recommended student she heard a voice call out for her. Pyrrha next to her stopped briefly before she shook her head and walked towards the waiting room. 

Yang blinked and turned around only to see Kyouka. Her friend had a serious expression on her face and it made Yang feel uneasy. She stood there as the sharped eyed girl made her way down the stairs and motioned for her to follow. They went out of the stadium and Yang waited for her to speak. 

“Look, it wasn’t Ruby’s fault that it came out.” Kyouka said bluntly. “You said something about him in the ring during your fight with Belladonna. She just gave some clarity to it. okay?” 

Yang watched Kyouka tap her jacks together. She looked nervous telling her this and Yang found it rather cute. It was nice to know someone cared for her this way. Kyouka really was a good friend. 

As they stood there quietly Yang couldn’t help but notice their obvious height difference. She instinctively reached out and patted her friend on the head like she did with Ruby many times in the past. Although, unlike her sister, Kyouka blushed at her action and pushed her hand off. Her hair was now slightly messy and Yang laughed out loud. Kyouka was so much fun to tease.

“Thanks for caring about us. I know Ruby doesn’t do that unless she has too. I guess as long as no one in the school knows about our relationship with Qrow or finds out who our dad was, all will be fine!” Yang assured her. 

“Right!” Kyouka muttered as she smoothed her hair down with reddened cheeks. “You're doing awesome out there and I know for sure you will totally destroy Bakugou, if anyone can it’s you!” 

Yang smiled brightly at her friend and felt her own cheeks warm up. Yang never knew she’d have such great and supportive friends in the future. She really needed to hear that after the awkward call with Taiyang. Kyouka made her feel happy and confident in herself. She wanted to hug her, but felt it was still way too early in their friendship. Instead once again she placed her hand on the other's shoulder and squeezed it gently, she looked down into those dark eyes and mustered up all her emotions with one look. She hoped it reached Kyouka. 

“Thank you! I needed that.”

Kyouka smiled back at her just as big. The same one she gives when she speaks about music or something she likes a lot. Yang was taken aback from that, but didn’t show it. With this new confidence boost and energy Yang felt ready to fight Bakugou. She knew what she had to do to beat him and It was going to be fun. 

* * *

Shouto watched as Nikos walked past him in the tunnel. She looked confident, ready, and sure of herself. He could tolerate her unlike the other students. She was another recommended student, but with a unique twist. Nikos wasn’t rich, she got the recommendation from pure talent. Her skills were above average especially in combat. She had a realistic view of the world and always planned out all her attacks in advance. Nikos could even work with weaklings and still shine as seen during the battle trails where he witnessed her capability of fighting with someone like Arc. 

In the end some of the students dubbed her either 1-A’s goddess of victory or war. It was fitting with her Greek aesthetics. 

Their eyes met briefly before she went out of the tunnel. Shouto wondered just what she had in store. After his last fight with Midoriya he still didn’t want to use his left side on her. It was new and he barely had any control over it. Besides, he just rejuvenated his strength and was more than ready to take her on. 

Shouto finally lifted himself from his position on the wall and walked out of the dark tunnel. The crowd cheered as he stepped out. He glanced at Nikos and she looked at him for a second, smiling at him politely. It surprised him a little at how kind she acted among everyone. She could have been like him, Schnee, Yaoyorozu or Bakugou but instead Nikos was the complete opposite. She cared about who she fought.

_I don’t understand, why does she smile at me as if we’re friends? It’s just like Midoriya..._

The introductions went by quickly and the two recommended students both made their way to the ring. Shouto then noticed how her green eyes zeroed in on his feet. Nikos already had a plan and he knew he had to do his best to keep his left arm from igniting its flames. In the end the match would not be fun, it won’t be meaningful like with Midoriya. He wasn’t going to use everything. He will fight her but only with a certain amount. 

* * *

“Do you think he’ll use his fire on her?” Ochako asked Deku who had come back from the infirmary during Bakugou’s match with Iida. 

“I don’t know he still doesn’t have a lot of control over that side.” He answered 

Ochako watched for the match to begin. A lot of these matches since her own had been exciting to watch. With the one between Deku and Todoroki to the one with Xiao Long vs Belladonna. They all were so determined to win. 

_Not to mention that Xiao Long and Rose are both children of an ex pro-hero. It's no wonder they’re so talented, just like Todoroki._

She let her eyes go to Rose who was worried about her sister. Ochako noticed Jirou hadn’t come back from the bathroom either. She frowned as she looked at Nikos. 

Nikos was an inspiration to all the girls within the class. Her quirk and how she used it was amazing. Even her strength was impressive. She could really win this whole thing. 

“Who do you think will win this match?” She asked. 

“Honestly...I don’t know.” Deku whispered. “They both are super powerful, but Todoroki’s quirk gives him the advantage, then again we haven’t really seen Nikos use a lot of her strength since her match with Yaoyorozu. “ 

Ochako started to sweat when the boy began to mumble out loud as he tried to figure just who might win. She tried to calm him down. 

“Hey! Calm down, it's okay I was just asking no need to go super analytical on me!” She assured him. 

“R-Right sorry!” He cried. 

Ochako sighed to herself and turned her attention back to the match. This is one that she wants to watch. 

* * *

Katsuki walked into the waiting area and sat down on his chair. He looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep breath. His body was hitting it’s limit and he had another fight soon. He wasn’t going to show any weakness, not if he wanted to beat blondie. He growled quietly. Her attacks will hurt him, but he’ll just have to keep her from touching him like Uraraka. 

Problem is if he attacks her, it only makes her stronger. So in the end his attacks are limited if he didn’t want to lose. If she charges up to a hundred it's game over for him. Not only will the impact cause an explosion like the shit that occurred with Todoroki and blow him out from the ring, but it would humiliate him if he ends up out of the ring as well.

_I’d rather be fucking knocked out than that._

He remembered that Blondie can also inflict pain on herself if she wanted a boost. He studied her earlier matches and saw the way she punched the ground or her own fists to charge herself up. Not to mention there was also the damn strength she gained before the festival. The bitch was so infuriating. He wanted to win even if it killed him.

Katsuki snarled dangerously when he heard the door open and she walked in. Blondie didn’t say a word to him and got herself a water bottle from the vending machine. She then walked back out and he could catch a glimpse of earphones behind the door. Previously, when he found out that Blondie, of all people, was an ex pro-hero's kid. Katsuki went on his phone to research all the ex pro’s that were known. It wasn’t until he came across a man with blonde hair and blue eyes who looked almost identical to her. That Katsuki almost lost it. 

_Supreme Dragon!? That's her father? Fuck he’s just as strong as All Might._

He wasn’t jealous of the girl, in fact Katsuki wanted to kill her even more now. She was just always there, mocking him and beating him. She destroyed him in both the other games and he hated that. Although, what he despised most was the fact that he enjoyed fighting her and that he wanted her to show him even more of her abilities. After all, it wouldn't be a real fight if that obnoxious girl held back. 

With that in mind. Katsuki decided he was going to do everything in his power to charge Blondie’s quirk up to one hundred percent. He didn’t want to lose to her with a punch that was half her strength. If he was going to lose, which he wouldn’t, it would be because she didn’t half-assed it.


	12. Finally Things Get Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for Pyrrha vs Todoroki and Bakugou vs Yang. This was a fun chapter to write before crying over the next arc which will introduce a certain sassy RWBY character we all love. Any Guesses? I'll give you a hint. 
> 
> SLIVER EYES. 
> 
> PS: we also get a glimpse in this chapter of another character with a bird motif.

“BEGIN!” Present Mic yelled into the intercom. 

Pyrrha watched Todoroki step on the ring, ice rapidly making its way to her from beneath his feet. He continued to walk, using his right arm to create even more, readying for an attack. She jumped and used her quirk to grab a new metal plate from the arena. She would have to apologize later for taking practically half the arena walls.. 

She landed on it and started to surf on the ice that he created. She made her way towards him and ripped another one from the wall, using her quirk to attach it to her right arm like a shield. She went towards him with intent, jumping from the makeshift shield and kicking it towards him. Todoroki lifted up his left hand to swipe it only to be surprised when Pyrrha pushed her right shield against it and caused him to skid and create an ice block behind him. He glared at her as she used her quirk to force the metal shield even further against his body. 

“Shouldn’t have used that first move Todoroki.” She smiled. 

He didn’t say a word and grunted as he pushed her out of the way. Pyrrha did multiple flips and landed on her feet only to run towards him again. She picked up the metal from before and shifted it into a spear. Todoroki used his right arm again and an Ice Barrage advanced toward her. 

Pyrrha smirked and used her spear to hit all the ice and shatter it. She used her quirk to give her motions with the spear more force when she struck with it. When another batch of ice came she blocked it with her shield over it. She landed her on her feet beside him and swung her right leg to his left side. He growled as he went flying to the opposite side. Pyrrha watched the ice start crystallizing on Todoroki’s right side, and realized he was getting tired. She felt her own body running out of steam, but shook her head to jump out of the way when he landed on the cement. Todoroki miraculously got up again before gliding towards her for another attack. However, Pyrrha was quick enough to notice his slower pace and grabbed Todoroki by his left arm. She threw him over her shoulder to the ground and stepped back as she waited for his counter.

They both breathed heavily as Pyrrha looked down at Todoroki with pity. The fight wasn’t as thrilling as she pictured it and it frustrated her that he was holding back. She placed her hands on her hip and bent down to get a better look at her opponent.

“Hm you’re not giving me your all?” She questioned, curiously. 

“Apologies.” He snarled as he glared up at her. 

Ice suddenly manifested where Todoroki was. Pyrrha’s quirk automatically stopped the strike from taking her arm off, by bending itself to be armor for her body. It was harder to move with the heaviness but Pyrrha was fast enough to dodge the rest of the attack. 

The two recommendations students stood again on opposite sides. Pyrrha already knew Todoroki wasn’t going to do the thing he did with Midoriya and accepted it. Honestly he looked kinda lost after that fight, like he didn’t want to win anymore. With a frown Pyrrha held her shield and walked towards him. The ice on his right side became more prominent as they fought. It was becoming noticeable.

“Why don’t you use your left side to warm yourself up?” She asked softly. “Your quirk will hurt you if you don't.” 

“Why do you care? Why are you even helping me?” He growled. 

She wasn’t helping him, Pyrrha was just concerned. He gave her the same look she got from Sustrai in their fight. The one that questioned why she is so kind to everyone. 

“I just don’t want to see you hurt, if you use your ice for too long you’ll get frostbite right? Pyrrha continued. “That was usually what people with ice quirks suffer from.”

Todoroki eyes widened at her remark. Was it really that shocking that she cared about her classmate? Pyrrha sighed to herself as she continued to clash with him. She thought about her previous fights and realized most of them were pretty easy. 

_So this is what it feels like when you don’t use all your power. This whole fight has been inadequate._

Pyrrha felt like she was on autopilot as Todoroki tried to get some space between them. He was becoming predictable and Pyrrha was a lot faster than him in close combat. Expectedly, when she saw his hand make its way towards her, she grabbed it and flipped him over. A loud thud echoed throughout the entire stadium and Pyrrha glared at Todoroki when more ice manifested on his right side. He was losing consciousness and she decided to pin him down until he finally lost it. In the end, ironically this fight’s end followed her namesake, a hollow victory.. 

“Todoroki is KOed! Nikos wins the match!” Midnight announced. 

* * *

“Whoa she beat him..” Sero muttered in disbelief.

Momo didn’t say a word. Both of them held themselves back. It wasn’t a true fight. She watched as Pyrrha stood there as Todoroki was taken to Recovery Girl by the robots. She could tell Pyrrha wasn’t happy, but knew the red haired girl wasn’t one who’d force someone to fight them. She sighed to herself and met Weiss’ eyes. Her best friend had been quiet throughout all of the matches. 

She lifted herself up from her seat and went to the back to sit next to her. 

“You’ve been quiet this whole time?” Momo asked. 

“I’ve been studying people’s fights.” She answered bluntly. 

Weiss looked forward and bit her lip as something bothered her. Momo knew that was it, because Weiss would scrunch her brows together and chew on her lip. 

“Belladonna is a faunas…” She said.

“Is that a problem?” Momo asked. 

“Not really, but she looked familiar to me, like I don’t know I feel like I’ve seen her before.” 

Momo raised a brow at her friend and tried to reason with her. Weiss has been seeing a lot of things lately that seemed familiar to her. She was just about the answer when she heard Mina turn around after talking to Arc. 

“Oh my god, Schnee why didn’t you tell me you were dating Todoroki!?” She asked. 

Momo did a double take and looked at her best friend. She was confused. Did she really just hear right? Was Weiss and Todoroki dating?

“Because it’s none of your business what me and Shouto do in our free time.” Weiss scoffed.

Momo tried to wracked her brain at this revelation, but the next match was about to start. She looked at Weiss briefly and promised her they’d have a talk about this later. Weiss frowned and looked away as they watched Bakugou and Yang make their way to the ring. 

* * *

Katsuki glared at her at the opposite side of the arena. He was going to destroy her and he couldn’t wait. He had waited for this since he noticed their brackets. Now that he knew who her dad was, he wanted her to not hold back any of her power. 

“Looks like I’m finally gonna make you eat dirt huh?” She said with a smirk 

“Shut the fuck up, I’m going to wipe that shitty smile off your face blondie.” He answered. 

The two stood there and waited for Present Mic. They both glared at each other as they waited for the moment to fight. 

“BEGIN!” Present Mic shouted and it was on. 

Katsuki ignited his sweat and jumped towards her. She stood there with her arms up ready for the attack. He began with his right hook only for her to block it with her left arm as it exploded past her head, the wind picked up afterwards. He watched as she turned quickly and slammed her right leg into his side, before lifting her arm and elbowing him to the ground. 

He grabbed her leg and flipped her over only to realize it was burning. The heated pulsated against his hand and he smirked down at her as he ignited another blast on her leg. The blonde took it and then to his surprise kicked him. How she managed to survive a blast to her leg pissed him off, that is until he saw the same leg was on fire. He growled at the realization.

_Fucking bitch activated her quirk so the damage was absorbed._

“Fuck you!” He cursed. 

“You really almost got me there blasty.” She quipped as she moved in for another strike.

“Xiao Long had activated her quirk the moment he blasted her leg, genius! Bakugou better watch out because she’s just getting started!!” Present Mic and his obnoxious voice echoed. 

Katsuki glared at her and thrusted another explosion at her. He might as well charge her up. He wanted a taste of her quirk in action. Unfortunately she wasn’t going to let him as she continued to attack him before he could let off another explosion, forcing Katsuki to fight her physically for a while before he finally got the upper hand. 

He smirked as his sweaty palm set off another explosion but as soon as it hit her she didn’t even flinch. 

Blow by blow she took him head on with the occasional blocks and dodges. She moved like a skilful kickboxer as she danced around his attacks. Katsuki growled as he blasted himself in the air when another kick from her came his way. He looked down at her and used his pointer finger to accuse her of not taking him seriously.

“ARGH, STOP FUCKING AROUND BLONDIE!!” He yelled at her.

Her reply was just a wink and Katsuki blasted another explosion at her which she expectedly blocked. Katsuki then dived forward and immediately noticed Blondie’s arms flared up that unusual golden fire. He felt excitement build up in his stomach and smiled manically when he saw her hair light up. Katsuki knew she was getting close to her eighty percent threshold and could feel his blood boil, but the bitch however had other plans. 

With no idea what was happening Katsuki could only watch her punch the ground and break the entire ring considerably.

_What the fuck, why would she do that. Why won’t she use that punch on me!?_

The pavement of the ring scattered around them as it created a huge crater. Her hair was back to normal and she no longer had the glow on her arm. 

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” Katsuki shouted. 

She didn’t say a word to him and ran towards him. He pulled back his arm and let his sweat drip towards his palm, letting out another attack. 

* * *

“Damn, that girl can hold so much damage, it makes me want to train even more.” Ejirou said with tears in his eyes. 

“The fact that she had taken blow after blow of unlimited explosions is something else.” Kaminari agreed. 

Ejirou nodded as Bakugou continued to throw everything he’s got, while Xiao Long just took it. Bakugou managed to get Xiao Long’s quirk to one of its high charges but the girl punched the ground to bring it back down. It was probably her way of maintaining it. 

He knew that Xiao Long had been holding back since the whole festival began. She must have taken what Aizawa-sensei told her to heart. She can still hurt her opponents with small power punches like she did with him. However, with Bakugou she was using more of her brute strength than her quirk. It amazed Ejirou, though deep down he knew it pissed off Bakugou with how he kept trying to charge her up with his attacks. 

“How can she even be up to his speed?” Mineta gawked. 

“She did tell me that her speed increased a lot since her training.” Mina answered thoughtfully. “It’s no surprise they are on the same level. Yang also has mad reflexes. You guys do remember her fight against Ruby during the battle trails, right?” 

“Oh shit I forgot about that, she managed to turn around quickly and punched Ruby straight to the bottom! That was an epic move, right before Ruby tricked her. “ Valkyrie realized quickly as she put two and two together. 

Ejirou remembered that fight too. It was one that impressed him a lot. Bakugou’s performance was still one of his favorites but Xiao Long was definitely his second. Even during their previous fight he noticed just how skilled she was with quirkless combat.

“It's like she’s been trained since she was a kid or something?” Kaminari questioned as he continued to watch the match.

“I mean, dad started to train her when she was eight.” Rose said with a nonchalant shrug, “and I started when I was six. It’s not a big deal.”

“Woah, seriously, that young?!” Ejirou cried as he clenched his fist. “You two are so manly I can’t even begin to express it!” 

Rose’s eyebrows furrowed at his outburst as she tried to understand his excitement. Ejirou ignored it as he continued to happily praise the sisters and their prowess. It wasn’t until Kaminari finally grabbed him by the back of his collar that he stopped the compliments. 

“Dude stop scaring her, pay attention to the match!” Kaminari groaned and tugged him back to his seat. 

Ejirou pouted at his friend but let his eyes return to the battle. He noticed that Bakugou finally got the advantage and now had Xiao Long on her knees. Yet Xiao Long didn’t look like she was in pain. In fact, she looked livid as he noticed her eyes shifting from purple to blood red. 

“Ouch, Bakugou just got her hair!” Uraraka winced. 

“Oh no…” Rose warned before letting out a sigh. “Yeah this match is over.”

Ejirou wondered what she said by that but paused when an imaginable heat overflowed the arena. 

* * *

Yang's eyes widened as she felt Bakugou hold her hair. No one touched her hair, not even Taiyang. The only people she allowed were her mother and Ruby. 

_How dare this bastard touch my hair!?_

“Hurts right? I’m going to kill you now.” Bakugou smirked as he tugged the golden locks harder. 

Yang felt her whole body erupt with fire as her blood boiled with fury. She was on one knee as he gripped her hair. Her breathing became erratic as she reached up to grab his arm that held her down. She stomped on the ground hard and her eyes had gone red. Her body now charged up from that contact and the pain Bakugou inflicted against her skull. 

“Not as much as you’re going to hurt after this match Bakugou.” She declared, deadly. 

Yang then flipped him over and he landed on the cement with cracks around his body. She could see his eyes widened as he held the pulled hair strands in his fist. Bakugou quickly got back up and his smile only widened before he threw another explosion at her. 

_Oh, now I get it!_

“That’s it, give me everything you’ve got Xiao Long!” He encouraged her by using her surname. 

Yang looked up at him, her hair lit up in flames as her body burned with golden fire. She glared at him and then smiled. Her gym jacket was no longer on her body and only her fireproof crop top covered her upper half. 

Bakugou went into the air and started to twist around as he went for his final move. 

Yang positioned herself and the fire extinguished with all the damage she absorbed going to her right arm. She looked up at him as he came spiraling down with explosions all around him and continued to focus all her power to this one attack. 

“Charged ninety-five percent, IGNITED,” She shouted “BANG!”

“HOWITZER IMPACT!” Bakugou yelled. 

His palm met her fist and the whole area exploded by both attacks. Yang watched her punch make Bakugou fly away from her. She glared at the blast that damaged her fist and winced as the pain started to set in. Her body was going to be sensitive until the last match. Hopefully since they’ll have to rebuild the arena, it’ll give her time to reboot. 

The dust cleared but Bakugou was nowhere to be found. Yang looked down at her feet that were now standing upon a crater. She was still in the ring. Which means...

“Bakugou is KOed and out of bounds, Xiao Long wins the match.” Midnight declared far away. 

Yang smiled and pumped her hand up as she heard the crowd cheer for her. She felt dizzy all of a sudden and closed her eyes as everything went dark. 

* * *

Kyouka waited anxiously against the wall for Yang to come out of Recovery Girl’s room. She looked up to see the girl walk out with a gauze on her left cheek and a bandaid on the right. Her arms were wrapped as well, and Kyouka wondered if she’ll be able to fight Nikos like that. 

“You waited for me!” Yang smiled genuinely as she jogged over to where Kyouka was.

“Only because, I wanted to make sure you’re going to rest afterwards.” She scowled while fighting the blush that was dusting her cheeks.

Yang's smile widened as she stretched a bit to loosen herself up. The two then walked side by side for a bit before Kyouka finally asked about the other person that was also in Recovery Girl’s room.

“So?” She began. “How’s Bakugou doing?”

“He’s fine and sleeping from what I recall. At least I didn’t go overboard. I want to save up my energy for my fight with Pyrrha!” Yang answered cheerily. 

Kyouka nodded her head in agreement. There was one more fight to crown the winner. Yang and Nikos were the finalists. She knew Yang had to get herself ready. It was going to be a tough battle for her. 

“He wasn’t really giving me a choice huh?” Yang muttered softly so that only Kyouka could hear. “I almost used up all my energy on him. “

Kyouka frowned as Yang stared down at her hands. She could tell Yang was nervous about the final fight. Nikos barely used any of her energy against Todoroki. Then again they both held back their power during all their matches. Although, it surprised Kyouka that Todoroki didn’t use his left side on Nikos like he did with Midoriya. It was ultimately a stupid chose because Nikos was the perfect person to unleash that kind of power on. In the end that brash stubbornness cost him the entire fight.

“You should still give it your all for your fight with Nikos, she’ll never forgive you if you don’t.” Kyouka advised as she remembered the disappointment in the other girl’s eyes after she won.

Yang took a moment to take in her words before nodding her head. She rolled her shoulders and did a couple more stretches before finally she let out a hearty laugh. Her eyes shined with new determination as a smile formed on her lips. 

“You’re right! Thanks for the pep talk!” She whispered warmly.

Yang then turned towards the arena and Kyouka made her way back up to the stands. Watching the other fight earlier at ground level was something else. To feel all that power that came from both fighters made Kyouka want to work even harder. Both Bakugou and Yang fought like hell even if they were exhausted. It was intense but also beautiful to witness. 

In all her life Kyouka never really had a strong goal besides becoming a hero and maybe a musician. However, after this she felt a new drive inside her and she was determined to not only become a hero but one that was at the same level as Yang and Nikos. Female heroes need to strive to be like those two in order to reach plus ultra.

* * *

Pyrrha was in her own world as she remembered her last fight with Todoroki. She knew about his issues, but she’d let him speak to her about it when he felt comfortable. Now, she had to focus on the next fight. She took a deep breath and looked up to see Yang walking to her and got up from the wall she was against. The two exchanged pleasantries and Pyrrha decided it was a good time to talk about a topic that has been plaguing her since the second round.

“So, I know who your father is.” She whispered. “

“Well if everyone does their research they will eventually.” Yang replied sarcastically. “I do look like him after all..”

Pyrrha nodded her head unbeknownst of Yang’s tone of voice. She also did research on Ruby’s quirk. It surprised her that the younger girl was related to someone like White Rose, but it didn’t surprise her. They both had the same quirk afterall. 

“Hey, Let's give it everything we’ve got, don’t hold back like you did with Todoroki.” Yang asked suddenly.

“Likewise.” Pyrrha said as a smile formed on her lips. 

They both looked to the light at the end of the tunnel and walked out into the arena one last time. The crowd was split between both girls as they made their way to the arena. Midnight stared at both of them and smirked before everyone turned their attention to Present Mic. 

“Alright, everyone!” Present Mic’s voice came loud and clear. “We’re finally at the final match of the tournament! Now both these fighters are from Class 1-A and totally ready to duke it out! One of them is dubbed the Goddess of Victory and the other is a tank that can pack a huge amount of power in one punch. Give it up for both Pyrrha Nikos and Yang Xiao Long!”

Pyrrha heard the crowd and walked up to the ring next to Yang. She had just gotten off the phone with her mother and felt extra emotional after the conversation. She gripped her arm to her chest and closed her eyes as she thought of her father. Yang on the other hand stood on the opposite side with wraps around her right wrist and hand. Pyrrha frowned at that. The fact that Bakugou managed to cause that much damage to Yang made this fight a little boring. Although with Yang everything was usually unorthodox, so maybe it won’t be too bad. 

“BEEEEEGIN!” Present Mic declared from the commentary booth. 

The two waited for the other to move and Pyrrha once again used her quirk to take two metal plates in her possession. She made a steel sword with one and used the other as a shield. She then threw the shield as a distraction with her quirk as Yang easily blocked it with both arms. This gave Pyrrha a chance to witness her opponent wince after using her right side. Exposing Yang’s weak spot. 

When Yang’s body started to burn as her quirk activated its first stage. Pyrrha striked using the sword and shield one at a time directly aiming at Yang’s right arm. Yang quickly dodged and attacked Pyrrha using her legs. As Yang tried to hit her face Pyrrha ducked and went to her left before using her sword to hit Yang on her right side. Yang skidded forward from that hit as she bends down to stop the movement with her left fist on the cement. 

“Too slow.” Pyrrha taunted. 

She smirked when she saw Yang turn around and meet her with fury. She ran towards Pyrrha and gave her a barrage of punches and kicks. Fueling herself as she caused damage each time Pyrrha’s shield blocked her attacks. Each of their fists made contact and shockwaves of both their quirks caused them to be thrown off to opposite sides. 

After the two took a small breather. Yang smiled at her before punching the ground. Her body went flying into the air and then dove towards Pyrrha with an aerial kick. Pyrrha reluctantly used her quirk and grabbed an even bigger scrap of metal to shield herself. 

“You know it's a real fight people when Nikos starts using more of her quirk!” Present Mic announced. 

The impact of metal to heat sent Yang back into the air. Pyrrha, who always improvises on the battlefield, jumped over the huge scrap of metal and used it as a launchpad to get to Yang. When it succeeded the two were now fighting in the air as they held each other by their shoulders, before colliding with the pavement on the ground. 

As they stood there in a small crater Pyrrha noticed that Yang cringed again. It was strange usually Yang would never let her opponents see her act hurt. It was something the blonde took pride in. 

_The fight before this really must have worn her out. She’s pushing herself to her limits to keep herself in the match. Yang you truly are a noble fighter..._

A small smile formed on Pyrrha’s lips as she continued to observe the girl standing before her. Yang ran towards the huge metal scrap that she previously wielded from the stadium and began to lift it up. Pyrrha’s eyes widened, the metal was about five hundred pounds. It would be impossible for anyone to lift it up with that much ease. However, Yang wasn’t a normal person and all Pyrrha could do was stare as the blonde smirked before throwing the metal towards her. 

“Catch!” Yang teased. 

Pyrrha lifted her arms up immediately as the metal plate came hurtling towards her body. She had to use both hands in order for her quirk to stop the movable object. Berating herself internally for forgetting about Yang’s new enhanced strength. 

“You’ve been holding back!?” Pyrrha accused her after she stopped the crushing blow of the debris. 

“So have you.” Yang replied. “I want you to do that attack on me, the one you did on Yaomomo.”

Pyrrha frowned at the blonde but decided Yang was worthy for her ultimate move. She closed her eyes as the wind picked up around them and the metal plates started to float around her. She then took a deep breath and pushed a small magnetic pulse that built up between them towards Yang. 

* * *

Ruby's eyes widened at the fight in front of her. It was so cool. Maybe not as cool as the one with Bakugou, because that final showdown was just so much fun to watch. Though Pyrrha and Yang weren’t holding back any punches. 

She watched as Yang prepared to block the new attack Pyrrha can do and gritted her teeth as Yang’s body reached the out of bounds. Yang had her heel up that prevented her from going out of the ring and she let out a breath when she pushed through the magnetic field Pyrrha created around her and used as an attack. 

“Did you guys see that! She almost got her out.” Kirishima said as he watched with excitement. 

“This really wasn’t how I pictured a girl on girl fight, actually none of the fights that happened besides the one with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu had clothing come off..” Mineta said with disappointment. 

Ruby looked at him with confusion until she saw a familiar pointer plug into his head and jab him. She looked at Kyouka who glared at him as Yaomomo created another object to hit him with. She would never understand why this pervert keeps saying these stupid things. 

_It will get him killed someday I swear…_

Ruby rolled her eyes and let her attention go back to the match as Yang’s body suddenly erupted into flames. In a way she looks like a golden flame version of Todoroki. Just that her flames never leave her body and only absorbs when damage is thrown at her or she does to herself. 

* * *

Yang grinned as she ran towards Pyrrha. Her quirk had reached its second phase as it passed its eighty percentage threshold. Her excitement had grown as she witnessed the recommended student’s' new attack. Pyrrha not only could control metal but also create a magnetic pulse within her space. Yang was glad that Pyrrha was showing her this. It made this fight even better than anything she could have imagined. 

_Not even Todoroki witnessed this. I feel kind of special after Yaomomo._

The flames that erupted had burned her wraps as her right arm made contact with one of the shields that have been hovering around Pyrrha. Yang kept punching her way to reach the other girl but was being blocked by one plate after another. This made her frustrated as she tried to kick her way across to the recommended student. However, Pyrrha once again blocked her as her green eyes held a simmering emotion Yang couldn’t identify. It was usually rare to see Pyrrha this excited over a fight, but nevertheless Yang encouraged it as she smiled at her. 

“Ready for the finale?” She asked. 

Pyrrha didn’t say anything and instead focused her energy around the field. More metal began to rip itself from the stadium and Yang could hear screams coming from the people in the frontrow. The extinguish of her flames indicated she was finally charged and this time it wasn’t in her control. With her lit up hair and red eyes Yang pulled the charged fist that burned gold back as she advanced towards Pyrrha. 

“MAGNETIC PULSE, 10 FEET MOVEMENT ” Pyrrha yelled at her.

“CHARGED ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, IGNITED BANG!” She cried out. 

Once their attacks collided it was like what happened with Bakugou. However, this time Yang felt herself be taken by the air as she lost control of her body due to the fully charged punch. The impact burned her jacket, bandages and pants a bit as she landed on the wall. Her blood was drained from its pulsing state and she was in excruciating pain. Yang wanted to die at the amount of agony the whole competition put her body through. It was too much, she needed Recovery Girl and fast.

“Xiao Long is out of bounds, Nikos wins the Tournament.” Midnight declared. 

Yang groaned and felt herself go unconscious. The only thing she was able to hear before she let darkness take its toll was Present Mic’s announcement of Pyrrha being crowned the first year's champion. 

* * *

Meanwhile, In a city nearby a dark figure watched casually on her smartphone as her daughter made second place. A smirk played on her face. She knew Yang was strong but she didn’t think she’d win second place in the U.A tournament. 

"Well she is my daughter after all, I always said only the strongest can survive.” She said to herself before letting out a chuckle. 

She then looked down from the roof she was standing on and saw a familiar man walk down the alleyway. With a sigh she jumped off and landed on the ground as he continued his way. 

“You look happy.” She remarked. 

“I just slayed Ingenium.” He answered with satisfaction. 

She rolled her eyes. Looks like when she wasn’t watching or doing other things, her stupid partner got to the hero before she did. It wasn’t her fault she was a free agent and worked with many people. 

“I want to get further away from here.” He demanded.

Red eyes meet that of black for a brief moment. The woman then pulled out her red katana and slashed the open space in front of her so that a red portal was made. He gave her a manic grin and casually walked inside. She then quickly texted her boss to inform her that the Hero Killer was now approaching their hideout. After all she wasn't someone who was bound to one partner. She was only doing this to survive. 

_That and the money._

Truth be told she used to be a hero in training, but after graduating she learned the ugliness of being a pro-hero. The impurity of the career and how most heroes were used like puppets behind closed doors. It made her sick to her stomach. Being useful for the quirkless, dying for them for a cause that's nearly impossible to achieve. 

**_Nevermore_** could only hope her daughter would not suffer the same sacrifice she did and follow in her footsteps towards true justice. 

* * *

Weiss sighed as she watched Bakugou go crazy on the third place podium. He woke up after the fight between Xiao Long and Pyrrha. Apparently he kept yelling for Xiao Long to fight him again, saying she didn’t use all her power against him. 

_I don’t know why he thinks that using ninety-five percent isn’t full power, it almost cost her her arm when she did that. She risked her whole body using those full charged attacks. He should be grateful she went that far._

Xiao Long had both her arms wrapped in gauze again with cuts and bruises on her face. Still she looked relaxed. More so than she did since the tournament began. Weiss pondered to herself and secretly thanked who ever was up there that she didn’t end up in this whole thing. 

_The mental capacity they all possessed._

She thought briefly of the conversation she had with her father. He mentioned her mother again and she felt sick. She hadn’t visited her since the recommendation exam. She looked down at her feet. Would her mother even want to see her?

_Afterall I messed up the Sports Festival. I’m never going to hear the end of it from that man._

Weiss felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Momo smile at her. She felt better knowing her friend was there. Maybe one day she’d let Momo come with her to visit her mother. She was so kind and made her feel happy whenever they talk. 

_I really wanted her to win this, but Pyrrha winning was alright in the end._

“Now let's breakout the hardware! Of course there is only one person worthy of doing that.” Midnight said with glee. 

She heard his laugh and Weiss rolled her eyes when All Might came from the top of the stadium to where the people on the podiums were. He landed on the ground and was a little upset at Midnight. At least someone was angry at her for once. 

All Might made his way to Bakugou and Todoroki and spoke softly to them as he handed them the metals for third place. Todoroki spoke quietly to All Might and accepted it and his hug. Bakugou on the other hand refused until Xiao Long had a rematch with him, his metal ended up in his mouth. 

She side eyed this with Momo and even caught Belladonna, Ashido, Valkyrie and Jirou rolling their eyes. All of them thought of the same thing. 

_Boys and their stupid prides…_

Weiss watched carefully as All Might hesitantly put the silver medal over Xiao Long’s neck. She saw the girl’s eyes widened briefly and then looked away. All Might then hugged her and she watched Xiao Long stiffen from the affection before slowly closing her eyes. 

Weiss never understood the relationship between them, it was always tense. Xiao Long was a usually overly friendly girl, but Weiss had noticed since the battle trials that Xiao Long seemed to dislike the hero. 

_Which is utterly ridiculous because they are kinda similar._

The last person was Pyrrha who stood tall as she had bandages wrapped around her head and looked tired. All Might smiled at her and spoke to her. She nodded to him and accepted the medal. She didn’t smile but she stood tall unlike the other three who looked like children. 

“Here they are, the winners of this year's Sports Festival, but listen closely.” All Might announced. “Any of you firsts year could have ended up standing up on one of these podiums. Think about what you’ve done today. You challenged each other, learned and climbed even closer to your goals of becoming pro-heroes. These generations of heroes are becoming our most promising yet!”

After that Weiss rolled her eyes when All Might said the wrong thing. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself when everyone started to boo at him. 

_Just another typical day at school, it's finally over._

Despite that Weiss wasn’t stupid, she knew it was only just the beginning. 

* * *

Ochako stared at the seat in front of her that was empty. Iida had told both her and Deku that he had to leave because something happened to his brother Ingenium. She moved her eyes to Deku as he sat there looking straight ahead and waited for Aizawa-sensei. She then let her eyes go to Bakugou who was still upset about his match with Xiao Long. Ochako frowned to herself, even though she knew she did good, she was way behind him, Deku, Nikos, Todoroki and Xiao Long. She felt she had to train herself even more. 

Ochako then noticed Rose who looked concerned at her sister. The younger girl had exposed to the rest of their classmates that they were also children of pro-heroes. 

_Ex pro-heroes but still heroes no matter what people think._

She witnessed Xiao Long’s quirk while watching the tournament and the damage she did to her arms looked painful through those bandages. They weren't broken like Deku's but they were bruised and even scared. When Xiao Long uses up all her damage meter, her body becomes sensitive and the pain that she receives comes crashing down all at once. Which makes it rather impossible to move her limbs for a while. 

_Still her quirk is so cool. Our generation of female heroes are going to be the strongest ones yet._

Ochako then moved to Belladonna and could not help but stare at the adorable ears on top of her head. When Belladonna had finally come back to them before the final fight, she explained to the class that she was a faunas, but unlike Tsuyu she like Tokoyami’s quirk were completely different from their animal part. It was a fascinating conversation and she liked learning more about the faunas. Ochako always found their history interesting.

Aizawa-sensei made his entrance and everyone sat up in their seats. 

“Good job in the Sports Festival guys, you have the next two days off to recuperate. I’m sure some of you will be getting offers from pro-heroes who’ve watched the festival today. We’ll look over the draft forums and update you when you return. Get some rest, you still have a lot of training.”

“Yes sir!” Everyone said affirmatively. 

Ochako got up and followed the rest of her classmates after Aizawa-sensei had released them. She walked towards Deku and saw him talking with Rose. She was speaking about his match with Todoroki and how exciting it was. 

“Then the whole place just exploded! Usually my sister ends up doing that kind of stuff, so it was cool to see someone else do that! That match was really awesome!” She finished. 

She really couldn’t help but like Rose she was such a sweetheart and Ochako enjoyed her bouts of energy. However, it upset her that the girl couldn’t join the rest of their class in the festival. Rose still cheered for them but Ochako knew that she wanted to compete. 

They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Ochako thought about Iida again and hoped his brother was okay. The way he spoke about it seemed so dire, she didn’t like seeing her friend that way. 

* * *

Shouto stared at her as he finished putting on his shoes. Today was the first step. He looked at his sister Fuyumi and told her where he was going. 

“The hospital..”

Fuyumi looked at Shouto and he could tell she was confused at his sudden declaration. 

“What? Hold on why?” She began. “D-Don’t you have to inform dad about this?”

Shouto opened the door without a care. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his father. He wanted to do this because he wanted to see her, his father can’t always control him. 

“Whatever.”

That didn’t mean he was going to leave just yet, he wasn’t that cruel. He would let her speak but time is precious and he needed to see her. 

“Why now Shouto, after all this time, why is today different?” She asked 

He could hear the concern in her voice and looked straight ahead to the outdoors, she wouldn’t understand even if he tried to explain it. Besides it was none of her concern or business why he is doing this. 

He looked at her briefly and told him he’ll be back and slid the door shut. 

Shouto walked down the road to the hospital and thought back on his match Midoriya. It was the most enlightening moment in his life. Midoriya gave him a reason to keep fighting and to use his left side. He wasn’t doing this just because he wanted to be able to use it, but because he wanted to finally end this chapter. 

He missed her, he wanted to see her smile again and call his name. His mother was everything to him. All he wanted was for her to be happy again. He felt that he was a monster though, because of his left side that reminded her so much of the pain she endured from his father. The mark on his face that scared him of the terrified look on her face. 

As he continued to walk he heard a boy speak excitedly to his mother. It made him remember his own conversations with her. He closed his eyes as he trudged forward. 

When he made it to the hospital he looked up at the building and took a deep breath. 

_This is it. I’m not going to ignore this anymore._

Shouto walked in and saw it was busy with many people inside. He tried to look for the front desk and froze when he saw someone familiar. Her white hair that reminded him so much of his mother was down and her blue eyes stared ahead as she walked with a nurse to another section of the hospital. He looked up at the sign and read ‘rehab center’ in bold letters. He processed the new information and frowned a little. 

_Perhaps we have more in common than just being recommended students. I will have to speak with her later about what happened with Arc._

With that thought in mind Shouto saw the front desk and asked for his mother's room. He was escorted to a different section of the hospital and looked at the door in front of him. Shouto took another deep breath and opened the door quietly. He watched as she turned around from staring at the window and he felt his heart beat rapidly. 

“Hello mother..”

It was a start on making him and his mother better. He had to take this step to recover from what his father did to him and his family. 

Shouto took a step forward further into the room so that he could meet her and talk to her about all that he wanted to say for so long. 

* * *

The two days passed quickly and Yang rested only for one day. Her body was in too much pain to function after the festival. She still talked to her friends on the phone, but she didn’t go out at all. That didn’t stop her from training the second day. 

The rain hit her and Ruby hard as she parked her bike. She hated water, it was one of the only elements that she didn't like. She shivered and grabbed Ruby by the wrist and dragged her into the school. She looked at Iida who was talking to Midoriya and decided not to greet him. 

Before the Sports Festival ended Iida had to leave early. No one besides Uraraka and Midoriya knew why but Yang had a feeling it had to do with the news about Ingenium who also had the engine quirk like Iida. She understands completely why he left in the end. A sibling bond was one of the most precious in life, Yang glanced at Ruby briefly before she looked ahead and let go of her arm. 

Ingenium was all over the news after the sports festival. It was said he was attacked by someone. She learned while watching that the name of the attacker was Stain the Hero Killer. Yang and Ruby both felt afraid after learning about someone like that. They couldn’t believe someone would be out their trying to kill heroes all because they weren’t pure enough. 

The two walked into the class and were greeted by the girls. Kirishima punched her shoulder as his greeting and she winced a bit. She was still recovering from two days ago. She sat down next to Blake and behind Kyouka and waited for class to begin. 

“Were people staring at you guys in the streets too!” Hagakure gushed and turned towards Yang. 

“A little, some people recognized me while I was driving?” Yang said sheepishly. 

“We’re basically celebrities now, we’re famous!” Kaminari boasted with confidence. 

“If you call throwing yourself out of the ring famous Denki, then sure!” Nora snickered in her seat at the front. 

Yang laughed as Kaminari complained and was just about to say another thing about it when the door opened and Aizawa-sensei was behind it. 

“Morning.”

Aizawa-sensei walked into the class and everyone said their greetings. He didn’t have the bandages on anymore and sported a scar on his left side. Yang had to admit it looked pretty cool. 

“The old lady went a little bit overboard on my treatment.” He mumbled. “Anyway we have an important class today on Heroes Informatics.”

Yang watched everyone freak out about it silently and just continued to listen. At this point she knew how this man worked and she wasn’t going to freak about his ominous way of speaking anymore. 

“You need codenames, time to pick your hero identity.”

Everyone except a few cheered before Aizawa-sensei’s eyes activated to stop all the ruckus.

“This is related to the pro-hero drafts picks from the last time we were in class together. Normally students do have to worry about the draft yet not until their second and third year but your class is different.” Aizawa-sensei said. “ In fact by extending offers to first years like you, pros are extensionally investing in your potential. Any offers can be resend if they’re interested in you guys down to graduation.”

Yang clenched her fist. This was serious and she wondered just how much potential she truly had in being a hero. She thought of Qrow, Taiyang and then finally her mother. She let her eyes go to Ruby and frowned. Due to her not being able to be in the Sports Festival, she’s going to lose leads. 

_That’s so not fair…_

She let her eyes go back to Aizawa-sensei as he continued to speak and was surprised when she saw her name in third after Todoroki on the board.

“In past years it's pretty spread out, but there is a significant gap this year due to the students in our class.” He stated. 

“That’s so unfair.” Kaminari complained. 

“Hey wait a minute is that Ruby’s name?” Kyouka pointed out. 

Yang looked and sure enough her little sister was the last name before the rest of the class who had zero leads. 

_Wait...how, who would give her an offer? Qrow? No it can’t be him he specifically told us he would not ask for an intern. Then who the hell wants my baby sister?_

Ruby was ecstatic at seeing her name and she cried as she hugged Tsuyu by accident. Yang couldn’t help but smile seeing the frog faunas pat her head and returned it. 

“Wow Bakugou has the least of the top four, people must have been scared of him since he kept cursing out Xiao Long’s name.” Sero quipped. 

“She still owes me a fucking rematch!” Bakugou snarled and glared at the person next to him. 

Yang rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the front. Aizawa-sensei said that despite the results everyone will be interning. She nodded her head as he spoke further about how they need experience to watch the pros in action despite already having a taste of fighting villains.

“These hero names may be temporally, but take them seriously or-”

Just as he was about to continue about the codenames. Midnight opened the door and the boys went crazy for her. Yang closed her eyes, she really disliked this woman. 

“What you pick today could be your codename for life, you better be careful or you’ll be stuck with something utterly indecent.” Midnight finished. 

Yang thought about it. She knew exactly what name she wanted. Maybe she’s unoriginal but she still wants to maintain the mantle of her father's legacy. 

_Something with a Fists...something that describes my quirk and my attitude...Burning Fists? ...No way. My quirk may be a heat type but that certainly doesn’t describe it._

“Yeah Midnight will have the final say of your names, it’s not really my forte.” Aizawa-sensei said as he picked up his sleeping bag again. 

Yang sighed at the action, he really hated this kind of stuff. She looked at Blake who also disproved his careless actions. 

_Not to mention I don’t think Midnight has the best taste… for names._

She listened to Aizawa-sensei and heard him speak of All Might. She tensed a bit, as she thought of her name. She could guess why All Might named himself that and couldn’t help but smile. He was speaking about himself, he was talking about everyone’s might. It did suit him. 

Once Aizawa-sensei went to sleep they were given markers and cardboard. Yang looked at the name she picked and swallowed. It will be obvious who her father is to the ones who looked him up. She wondered if Ruby was going to do something similar. She was sure of her choice. She put the marker down and smiled.

“Now students, who among you are ready to share?” Midnight announced. 

Yang froze at her seat. They were going to share this? Of course this woman would make a spectacle about something so trivial. Yang watched Aoyama present his and couldn’t help but sweat at how awful it sounded. In the end Midnight liked it. 

Then Mina came up and announced ‘Alien Queen.’ Now that one sounded cool, but Midnight freaked out and said no. 

Everyone was now afraid to go up after that and Yang wondered if she should be next.

However, It wasn’t until she saw Ruby walk her way nervously to the front that Yang paid attention to the class. 

Her eyes twitched the moment Midnight stared at Ruby. Yang throughout the weeks had come to realize quickly that the woman had a fascination with her sister for some reason. It was highly inappropriate, especially when Midnight would hug her spontaneously during class. It got on her nerves several times if she were being honest. 

“Okay, I don’t think it's too original but… I came up with The Blooming Hero, Red Rose!” Ruby mumbled before presenting her sign.

_Red Rose? Not really original sis, kinda lame but still nice…Summer would have loved it._

When no one responded Ruby started to get nervous but Midnight smiled wide at her and then winked. Yang really wanted to hurt that woman right now. Flirting was so unprofessional, especially with a thirteen year old. Also now was not the time for it.

_I get she has to keep a persona but leave my sister out of it!_

“Approved!” Midnight bellowed, halting Yang’s current thoughts. “It's simple, catchy and it fits the bearer!” 

Ruby smiled brightly and everyone cheered as she walked back to her seat. She was even congratulated by a struggling Arc, who was still having a lot of trouble with choosing his hero name. 

After the class settled down Tsuyu went up and presented her codename. She came up with Froppy, which Yang thought was cute. Though, It wasn’t until she heard Kirishima announce his name that Yang realized Ruby’s codename may not be as lame as she originally thought.

_Red Riot!? I knew he was a fanboy but to actually have a similar name? —-Maybe Ruby is on to something._

Blake then raised her hand and everyone waited as she walked over to the front. With an air of confidence she then put her name in front. 

“I don’t want to be distinguished by my ears so I came up with this. The Copy Hero, Phantom Shadow.”

Midnight looked at the name and Yang watched as she thought carefully about it. She then nodded her head and smiled. 

“Cool and mysterious. Very suiting for you, Belladonna, and your quirk.” 

“Thank you.” 

Yang felt more and more confident as her friends got their names approved. She watched Kyouka tease Kaminari again before making her way to the front. 

“The Hearing Hero, Earphone Jack,” She said with a smile. 

It was approved by Midnight and Yang finally got up and went up to the class.

“This is kinda an homage to a hero as well, um, The Endurance Hero, Dragon Fists.”

“Ooh that's powerful I like it!” Midnight approved her name. “Is the hero by any chance The Relentless Hero, Supreme Dragon?”

Yang blushed slightly. Of course her teacher would notice. 

“Yes.” She admitted.

“Again, good choice, really shows everyone you’re here and you’re powerful. Without scaring anyone of course.” She answered. 

Yang looked away but smiled as everyone else cheered. She was slowly becoming more accepting to her hero legacy. She looked at Ruby and saw her cheer. 

The next people who got their names approved were Sero, Ojiro, Satou and Shouji. She sighed once Mina gave hers and wished other’s had more creativity. Thankfully Nora and Ren went up at the same time. 

“The Tranquil Hero, Zen.” He stated. 

“The Stamina Hero, Pink Voltage” She gloated. 

“On the nose and perfect for your personalities!” Midnight approved. 

Weiss came up next and she looked smug about her’s. She turned her sign over and said.

“The Summoning Hero, Convoke.” 

“Powerful and sleek fits you perfectly.” Midnight nodded. 

The rest went by and Yang felt like she was about to fall asleep. She was poked on the cheek by Kyouka which caused her to swat the jack away from her face and frown. 

“Let me sleep, I'm done listening.”

“No way, ” Kyouka teased. “If I can’t sleep during class, neither can you.”

Yang sighed as she continued to listen to the people around her. Then Pyrrha came up and presented hers. 

“The Warrior Hero, Amazon.” She said. 

“Hmm, I don’t know it doesn’t exactly show off your quirk, and warrior?” Midnight said uneasy.

Pyrrha sighed and walked to her seat. She seemed to be struggling with this. Yang felt bad for her as she watched her start to write down other names. Until she finally came back up and presented with ‘The Amazon Hero, Magneta .’ 

Bakugou came next and Yang laughed really hard with Kirishima. The boy looked pretty pissed at them. Nora came over to Arc’s desk and laughed too hard at what he wrote. 

“Ohh no, you are not using that as your name, I won’t allow it.” She cackled, grabbed his pen and wrote down a name for him. 

“Nora! W-What’s wrong with that name, come on!” He then looked at what she wrote and blushed. “Are you serious!?” 

“Fits you perfectly, I also came up with Ren’s! Just go up their vomit boy!” Nora teased. 

Arc glared at her before he made his way to the front and presented his hero name. 

“T-The Boosting Hero, A-Amp it Up.” He stuttered. 

“She’s right it fits you perfectly…” Midnight deadpanned. 

Arc continued to blush and drag himself back to his desk. Next Uraraka came up and thought of Uravity. It was pretty fitting for her, and the pun made Yang smile. 

Now the only people left were Midoriya, Iida and Bakugou. Iida presented his name he looked so out of it today as if he was thinking of something else. Yang frowned, she didn’t know what was going on with him, but she really hated seeing her classmate act so strangely. Midoriya was the last one and he came up with Deku. Yang couldn’t help but like the name because he made it meaningful and powerful.

After all was said and done Aizawa-sensei spoke about the internships and how they would last a week. Yang was given her offers and almost fell over at one of the offices that wanted her. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is like my first fic ever here and I really hope you enjoy it. I will be trying to post it at least bi weekly. If my Beta Reader isn't busy I will try to do it weekly. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you can. I love feedback!


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